Quote

I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of WORK, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in the organised diminution of work.

Bertrand Russell

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Modern
Organised
Belief
Seriousness
Lying
Prosperity
Happiness
Harm
Done
Road
Great
Lies
Work
Deal
World
Deals
Diminution

More quotes by Bertrand Russell

Image
Can a society in which thought and technique are scientific persist for a long period, as, for example, ancient Egypt persisted, or does it necessarily contain within itself forces which must bring either decay or explosion?
Bertrand Russell
Image
Descartes, the father of modern philosophy ... would never-so he assures us-have been led to construct his philosophy if he had had only one teacher, for then he would have believed what he had been told but, finding that his professors disagreed with each other, he was forced to conclude that no existing doctrine was certain.
Bertrand Russell
Image
For over two thousand years it has been the custom among earnest moralists to decry happiness as something degraded and unworthy
Bertrand Russell
Image
[There has been] every kind of cruelty practiced upon all sorts of people in the name of religion.
Bertrand Russell
Image
The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Look at me. Look at me is one of the fundamental desires of human heart.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Facts have to be discovered by observation, not by reasoning
Bertrand Russell
Image
I am compelled to fear that science will be used to promote the power of dominant groups rather than to make men happy.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Modern definitions of truth, such as those as pragmatism and instrumentalism, which are practical rather than contemplative, are inspired by industrialisation as opposed to aristocracy.
Bertrand Russell
Image
War grows out of ordinary human nature.
Bertrand Russell
Image
The essence of life is doing things for their own sakes.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Ethics is in origin the art of recommending to others the sacrifices required for cooperation with oneself.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?
Bertrand Russell
Image
You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Suppose atomic bombs had reduced the population of the world to one brother and sister should they let the human race die out?
Bertrand Russell
Image
It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.
Bertrand Russell
Image
As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our trouble. . . . No Catholic, for instance, takes seriously the text which says that a Bishop should be the husband of one wife.
Bertrand Russell
Image
The wise man will be as happy as circumstances permit, and if he finds the contemplation of the universe painful beyond a point, he will contemplate something else instead.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Physics, owing to the simplicity of its subject matter, has reached a higher state of development than any other science.
Bertrand Russell
Image
Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.
Bertrand Russell