“To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”

— Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness, 1930

About Bertrand Russell

1872 – 1970

British philosopher and logician, Nobel laureate in Literature (1950).

“Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.”

“The fundamental defect of fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.”

“There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.”

“For God made all mankind to be happy, to be serene.”

“Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith.”

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness?”

“A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.”

“What is happiness? The feeling that power increases—that a resistance is overcome.”

“Only it takes time to be happy. A lot of time. Happiness, too, is a long patience.”