Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
Bertrand Russell Quotes
Every one who has done any kind of creative work has experiences, in a lesser or greater degree, the state of mind in which, after long labor, truth or beauty, appears or seems to appear, in a sudden glory – it may be only about some small matter, or it may be about the universe. […]
Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which move with him like flies on a summer day.
The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.
Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.
There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths.
One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.
There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought!
To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.
