Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Bertrand Russell Quotes
BoredomMoralitySin Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.
ReasoningLogicBeliefRationality When the intensity of emotional conviction subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical grounds in favour of the belief which he finds in himself.
ConformityIndividualitySelf-Perception Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.
IdealismHatredLove of Power Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power.
LoveKnowledgeCompassion Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
FreedomDetachment Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.
IndignationThoughtDesireFreedom Indignation is a submission of our thoughts, but not of our desires.
DoubtSkepticismCritical ThinkingOpen-mindedness I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.
PhilosophyTheoryPracticalityRelevance The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men.
HappinessHopeEnterpriseChange Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change.
PhilosophySimplicityParadoxBelief The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.
LoveIntimacyCompanionship Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give.
HappinessContentmentAcceptancePerspective To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
ValueInner WorthPerception There is no need to worry about mere size. We do not necessarily respect a fat man more than a thin man. Sir Isaac Newton was very much smaller than a hippopotamus, but we do not on that account value him less.
MathematicsUncertaintyTruthAbstraction Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.
IdealismFateParadoxDisillusionment It seems to be the fate of idealists to obtain what they have struggled for in a form which destroys their ideals.
IntelligenceIgnoranceSelf-doubtOverconfidence The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
PatriotismSacrificeMoralityNon-Violence Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country.
PowerFearLeadershipAmbition The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.
Social JusticeHonestyEnjoymentCompassionCommunication I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.
QuestioningChallenging AssumptionsCritical Thinking In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.
FatherhoodExpectationSocietal PressurePride The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
IndividualityConformityFreedomPublic Opinion One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
HappinessLoveBeauty of LifeNew Beginnings Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.
ObservationCritical ThinkingVerificationEmpiricism Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted.
ObjectivityTruthGoodnessDesire Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires.
ControversyEvidence The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.
EducationFreedom of ThoughtIntelligenceParadox We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.
Freedom of SpeechGovernment Security Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.
PerspectiveBeautyInquiry No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?
PowerControlHuman Nature Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, or, more generally, in the acquisition of power.
WorkLaborManagement Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do so.
Critical ThinkingDemocracyDiscernment To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.
CrueltyMoralityPunishment The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.
ObservationPerceptionInteractionSelf The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself.
Machine AgeIdeologyTechnologyAdmiration Admiration of the proletariat, like that of dams, power stations, and aeroplanes, is part of the ideology of the machine age.
PossessionsFreedomMaterialismNoble Living It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.
HappinessPerspectiveWisdomSimplicity I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite.
PrecisionProgressIterationLearning I do not pretend to start with precise questions. I do not think you can start with anything precise. You have to achieve such precision as you can, as you go along.
EthicsCooperationSacrifice Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself.
PropagandaHatredEmotionInfluence Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?
HypocrisyMisuse of KnowledgeDestruction Religions that teach brotherly love have been used as an excuse for persecution, and our profoundest scientific insight is made into a means of mass destruction.
BeliefCredulityHuman NatureReason Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
LoveLonelinessConnection Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means of escape from the loneliness which afflicts most men and women throughout the greater part of their lives.