When there are rational grounds for an opinion, people are content to set them forth and wait for them to operate. In such cases, people do not hold their opinions with passion; they hold them calmly, and set forth their reasons quietly. The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder's lack of rational conviction. β¨ Bertrand Russell (2004). Sceptical Essays, p.3, Psychology Press
More Author Quotes
- There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts. β¨ Bertrand Russell (1971). Ladislas Reymo β¦ βΆ
- Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy. β¨ Bertrand Russell (2014). The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, p.127, Routledge
- Both in thought and in feeling, even though time be real, to realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom. β¨ Bertrand Russell (2016). Mysticism and Logic, p.35, 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 β¦ βΆ
- The first essential character [of civilization], I should say, is forethought. This, indeed, is what mainly distinguishes men from brutes and adults from children. β¨ The Quotable Bertrand Russell.
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