Bertrand Russell
British philosopher and logician (1872 to 1970), also a social critic; co-author with Alfred North Whitehead of Principia Mathematica (1910 to 1913), author of The Problems of Philosophy (1912), awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
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What they believe
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The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1925This on korrents
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A social system should be judged at least as much by its effects outside economics and politics as inside them
It is by its effects outside economics and politics, at least as much as by effects inside them, that a social system should be judged.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1918This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
What I Believe Said c. 1925
Happiness is no less real because it ends, and thought and love keep their value though not everlasting
Happiness is none the less true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting.
What I Believe Said c. 1925
A social system should be judged at least as much by its effects outside economics and politics as inside them
It is by its effects outside economics and politics, at least as much as by effects inside them, that a social system should be judged.
Proposed Roads to Freedom Said c. 1918
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The world worth seeking is one built on the impulse to create rather than the desire to keep or seize possessions
The world that we must seek is a world in which the creative spirit is alive, in which life is an adventure full of joy and hope, based rather upon the impulse to construct than upon the desire to retain what we possess or to seize what is possessed by others.
Proposed Roads to Freedom Said c. 1918
The value of philosophy lies largely in its uncertainty; without it a person stays imprisoned in common-sense prejudice
The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason.
The Problems of Philosophy Said c. 1912
Philosophy cannot say with certainty what is true, but it suggests possibilities that free thought from the tyranny of custom
Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom.
The Problems of Philosophy Said c. 1912
The impartiality that is desire for truth in contemplation is justice in action and universal love in emotion
The impartiality which, in contemplation, is the unalloyed desire for truth, is the very same quality of mind which, in action, is justice, and in emotion is that universal love which can be given to all, and not only to those who are judged useful or admirable.
The Problems of Philosophy Said c. 1912
Philosophy should be studied for the sake of its questions, not for definite answers, which can rarely be known to be true
Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy; Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.
The Problems of Philosophy Said c. 1912
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