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The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, indeed, is what mainly distinguishes men from brutes and adults from children.

Bertrand Russell

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Bertrand Russell
Age: 97 †
Born: 1872
Born: May 18
Died: 1970
Died: February 2
Analytic Philosopher
Autobiographer
Epistemologist
Essayist
Journalist
Logician
Mathematician
Metaphysician
Peace Activist
Philosopher
Tryleg
Bertrand Arthur William Russell
Russell
Bertrand Russell
3rd Earl Russell
Bertrand Russell
Earl Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell
3rd Earl Russell
Adults
Civilization
Forethought
Character
Distinguishes
Firsts
Brutes
First
Mainly
Children
Essential
Men
Essentials
Indeed

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The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
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The best practical advice I can give to the present generation is to practice the virtue which the Christians call love.
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I suggest to young professors that their first work should be written in a jargon only to be understood by the erudite few. With that behind them, they can ever after say what they have to say in a language 'understand of the people.'
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There may be no good reasons for very many opinions that are held with passion.
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Conquer the world by intelligence, and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it.
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The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause.
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A man without a bias cannot write interesting history - if indeed such a man exists.
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We must be skeptical even of our skepticism.
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For the learning of every virtue there is an appropriate discipline, and for the learning of suspended judgment the best discipline is philosophy.
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You could live without the opera singer, but not without the services of the baker. On this ground you might say that the baker performs a greater service but no lover of music would agree.
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For my part, the thing I would wish to obtain from money would be leisure with security. But what the typical modern man desires to get with it is more money, with a view to ostentation, splendour, and the outshining of those who have hitherto been his equals.
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It must not be supposed that the subjective elements are any less 'real' than the objective elements they are only less important... because they do not point to anything beyond ourselves.
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I have throughout been curious about how much we can be said to know and with what degree of certainty or doubtfulness.
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Religion may in most of its forms be defined as the belief that the gods are on the side of the government.
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The Axiom of Choice is necessary to select a set from an infinite number of socks, but not an infinite number of shoes.
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I am paid by the word, so I always write the shortest words possible.
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The evolution of our spirit is blazed on the dark background of eternity by our individual wakes. Every person can, if he/she wishes, leave a more or less brilliant wake behind them.
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Man can be stimulated by hope or driven by fear, but the hope and the fear must be vivid and immediate if they are to be effective without producing weariness.
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