Bertrand Russell's best quotes (the ones he really wrote)
The top 3 according to 92 votes from people: Love is wise, hatred is foolish. · Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. · The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.. (Updated May 7, 2021.)
The stupid who are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubt, the celestial teapot and the three passions that governed his life: Bertrand Russell's most quoted lines, with their source, and without "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time", which is not his.
Top 15
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1
Love is wise, hatred is foolish.
Interview, Face to Face, BBC (1959).
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2
Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
"A Liberal Decalogue", New York Times Magazine (1951).
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3
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
"The Triumph of Stupidity" (1933), in Mortals and Others.
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4
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
What I Believe (1925).
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5
Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
The Conquest of Happiness (1930).
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6
Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.
Sceptical Essays (1928).
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7
The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.
Sceptical Essays (1928).
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8
If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun… nobody would be able to disprove my assertion.
"Is There a God?" (1952).
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9
There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.
In Praise of Idleness (1935).
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10
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
Unpopular Essays (1950).
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11
Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.
"Am I an Atheist or an Agnostic?" (1947).
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12
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
The Conquest of Happiness (1930).
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13
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.
The Conquest of Happiness (1930).
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14
The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich.
In Praise of Idleness (1935).
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15
Three passions… have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, prologue (1967).
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