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Bertrand Russell Quotes about Fear

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Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.

Bertrand Russell
Inspirational, Motivational, Fear
Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

Bertrand Russell
Xenophobia, Fear, Racism
Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.70, Routledge

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

Bertrand Russell
Confidence, Being Yourself, Fear
Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.554, Routledge

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

Bertrand Russell
Funny, Fear, Philosophy
"Bertrand Russell's Greatest Paradox was His Faith" by Dan Delzell, www.christianpost.com. November 4, 2011.

Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Men, Thinking
Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.106, Routledge

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.

Bertrand Russell
Life, Strong, Fear
Autobiography prologue (1967)

Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Science, Infancy Is

Worry is a form of fear, and all forms of fear produce fatigue. A man who has learned not to feel fear will find the fatigue of daily life enormously diminished.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Men, Worry
Bertrand Russell (2013). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.31, W. W. Norton & Company

All forms of fear produce fatigue.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Form, Produce
Bertrand Russell (2015). “The Conquest of Happiness”, p.43, Lulu Press, Inc

I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian god may exist; so may the gods of Olympus, or of ancient Egypt, or of Babylon. But no one of these hypotheses is more probable than any other: they lie outside the region of even probable knowledge, and therefore there is no reason to consider any of them.

Bertrand Russell
Christian, Atheist, Fear
Bertrand Russell (1993). “The Quotable Bertrand Russell”

The experience of overcoming fear is extraordinarily delightful.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Overcoming, Overcoming Fear
Bertrand Russell (2009). “On Education”, p.65, Routledge

The Christian view that all intercourse outside marriage is immoral was, as we see in the above passages from St. Paul, based upon the view that all sexual intercourse, even within marriage, is regrettable. A view of this sort, which goes against biological facts, can only be regarded by sane people as a morbid aberration. The fact that it is embedded in Christian ethics has made Christianity throughout its whole history a force tending towards mental disorders and unwholesome views of life.

Bertrand Russell
Christian, Fear, Views

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Believe, Animal
Unpopular Essays (1950) "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

When there are rational grounds for an opinion, people are content to set them forth and wait for them to operate. In such cases, people do not hold their opinions with passion; they hold them calmly, and set forth their reasons quietly. The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder's lack of rational conviction.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Passion, People
Bertrand Russell (2004). “Sceptical Essays”, p.3, Psychology Press

None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.

Bertrand Russell
Inspirational, Fear, Coward

Freedom in general may be defined as the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires.

Bertrand Russell
Freedom, Fear, Desire
Bertrand Russell (1996). “The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: A Fresh Look at Empiricism 1927-42”

Conquer the world by intelligence, and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Conquer The World, Terror
Bertrand Russell (1957). “Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects”, p.23, Simon and Schuster

Boredom is... a vital problem for the moralist, since half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Boredom, Half
Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 4

Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion go hand in hand.

Bertrand Russell
Atheist, Fear, Hands
Bertrand Russell (1993). “The Quotable Bertrand Russell”

Every living thing is a sort of imperialist, seeking to transform as much as possible of its environment into itself.

Bertrand Russell
Fear, Atheism, Environment
Bertrand Russell (2009). “An Outline of Philosophy”, p.31, Routledge

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