Bertrand Russell Quotes on Truth
Bertrand Russell made the disciplined pursuit of truth central to his philosophy, and the quotes gathered here state its main principles. The governing rule of his scepticism is simple: it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. Russell observed how rarely people meet this standard, noting that a person offered a fact against his instincts will scrutinise it closely and resist it, and famously lamenting that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves while wiser people are full of doubts. Yet his scepticism was not cynicism: he described truth as a shining goddess, always veiled and always distant, never wholly approachable but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable. These passages present truth as something to be sought with rigour and humility.
Quotes
-
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. -
“It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true.”
Ch. 1: The Value of Scepticism -
Attributed to Bertrand Russell:
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty.”
-
“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinise it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it.”
Ch. VI: International relations, p. 97 -
“Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict.”
1910s | Justice in War-Time (1916), p. 27 -
“Thus 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.”
Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays(1918) | Ch. 5: Mathematics and the Metaphysicians -
“Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable.”
1960s | Fact and Fiction (1961), Part II, Ch. 10: "University Education", p. 153