If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

—Bertrand Russell

About Bertrand Russell

Portrait of Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was an English mathematician, philosopher, and social critic.

More quotations from Bertrand Russell

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.

—Bertrand Russell

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth—more than ruin—more even than death.… Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

—Bertrand Russell

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.

—Bertrand Russell

If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.

—Bertrand Russell

No one gossips about other people's secret virtues.

—Bertrand Russell

More quotations tagged with “knowledge”

All men by nature desire knowledge.

—Benjamin Disraeli

If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.

—Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Modesty is a shining light; it prepares the mind to receive knowledge, and the heart for truth.

—Madam Guizot

truth knowledge humility

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

learning knowledge soul books

Don't go wishing for what you know nothing about.

—Marthe Jocelyn in Folly

knowledge wishing

History

11 Jul 2015 Added