“When people begin to philosophize they seem to think it necessary to make themselves artificially stupid.”

— Bertrand Russell, Theory of Knowledge, 1913

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.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“All great truths begin as blasphemies.”

“It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.”

“Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.”

“To achieve perfection, one must first begin by not understanding many things!”

“Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.”