Quotes from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“I hate the world and almost all the people in it. I hate the Labour Congress and the journalists who send men to be slaughtered, and the fathers who feel a smug pride when their sons are killed, and even the pacifists who keep saying human nature is essentially good, in spite of all the daily proofs to the contrary. I hate the planet and the human race—I am ashamed to belong to such a species.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“(on A History of Western Philosophy) I was sometimes accused by reviewers of writing not a true history but a biased account of the events that I arbitrarily chose to write of. But to my mind, a man without a bias cannot write interesting history - if, indeed, such man exists.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“A good social system is not to be secured by making people unselfish, but, by making their own vital impulses fit in with other peoples. This is feasible. Those who have produced stoic philosophies have all had enough to eat and drink.

I feel I shall find the truth on my deathbed and be surrounded by people too stupid to understand—fussing about medicines instead of searching for wisdom.

I hate being all tidy like a book in a library where nobody reads – prison is horribly like that.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Ever since puberty I have believed in the value of two things: kindness and clear thinking. At first these two remained more or less distinct; when I felt triumphant I believed most in clear thinking, and in the opposite mood I believed most in kindness. Gradually, the two have come more and more together in my feelings. I find that much unclear thought exists as an excuse for cruelty, and that much cruelty is prompted by superstitious beliefs.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Nothing can penetrate the loneliness of the human heart except the highest intensity of the sort of love the religious teachers have preached.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Nature and books and (later) mathematics saved me from complete despondency.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“At the age of eleven, I began Euclid, with my brother as my tutor. ... I had not imagined that there was anything so delicious in the world. After I had learned the fifth proposition, my brother told me that it was generally considered difficult, but I had found no difficulty whatsoever. This was the first time it had dawned on me that I might have some intelligence.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“It is not growing fanaticism, but growing democracy, that causes my troubles. Did you ever read the life of Averroes? He was protected by kings, but hated by the mob, which was fanatical. In the end, the mob won. Free thought has always been a perquisite of aristocracy.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“My advice to anyone who wishes to write is to know all the very best literature by heart, and ignore the rest as completely as possible.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“In general, I find that things that have happened to me out of doors have made a deeper impression than things that have happened indoors.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“...I went to Chicago, where I stayed with an eminent gynaecologist and his family...He was obviously a man of very strong sexual passions, and his face was ravaged by the efforts of self-control.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“Love of England is very nearly the strongest emotion that I possess.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“The beginnings of Algebra I found far more difficult, perhaps as a result of bad teaching, I was made to learn by heart: 'The square of the sum of two numbers is equal to the sum of their squares increased by twice their product.' I had not the vaguest idea what this meant, and when I could not remember the words, my tutor threw the book at my head, which did not stimulate my intellect in any way.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“...nor do I think that my scientific outlook has contributed very greatly to my happiness, which I attribute to defecating twice a day with unfailing regularity.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“My first book of stories was 'Satan in the Suburbs'. The title story was in part suggested to me by a stranger whom I met in Mortlake and who, when he saw me, crossed the road and made the sign of the Cross as he went.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

“I’m getting on pretty well with German, though I haven’t arrived at the stage of finding it a reasonable medium for the expression of thought. I think the original couple who spoke it must have died rather soon after the Tower of Babel, leaving a rather pedantically-minded baby, who had learnt all the words of one syllable, and had to make up the long ones with them – at least how else can you account for such words as Handschule and be-ab-sichtigen? I”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell

About the author

Popular quotes

“It's supposed to go bing-bing or bong-bong or ding-ding when tires go over it. The one at Dave's stopped working several years ago, and he won't have it fixed because he feels as I do - that none of us need to be reminded we exist.”
― Peter Hedges, quote from What's Eating Gilbert Grape

“¿Por qué creemos que vivimos nuestras vidas-dije, al fin-, cuando son nuestras vidas las que nos viven a nosotros?”
― Matilde Asensi, quote from The Last Cato

“The bed was swathed in black cotton; turning her head, Danika saw that she was draped by a half-clothed man. He possessed skin of chocolate and honey, taut muscle and ripped sinew. No hair marred his chest, but there was a menacing butterfly tattoo that stretched from one shoulder to the other and up his neck. Menacing butterfly—two words that could be used together to describe only one man. Reyes. “Oh,”
― Gena Showalter, quote from The Darkest Pleasure

“Only a conquerer bothers to honor a fallen foe.”
― Glen Cook, quote from The Black Company

“I'll sue!" Ian sputtered. "I'll sue you AND the dog. And the country of South Korea. And...and..."
"The landscape architect?" Natalie asked.
"The landscape architect!" Ian shouted.”
― Peter Lerangis, quote from The Sword Thief

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.