Bertrand Russell Quotes
As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think that I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because, when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods.
Russell, Bertrand. Am I an Atheist or an Agnostic?. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1949, p. 5.
This quotation is familiar, but there is a question concerning its veracity and source. It does not appear in Heisenberg's written works, but it is cited by Ulrick Hildebrand in 'Das Univerzum - Hinweis auf Gott?' in 'Ethos. Die Zeitschrift fur die Ganze Familie', Berneck, Schweiz: Schwengeler Verlag AG, No 10, Oktober 1988, 10
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell OM FRS was a British polymath, philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. Bertrand Russell was one of the most influential and widely known intellectual figures of the twentieth century. In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his extensive contributions to world literature and for his “rationality and humanity, as a fearless champion of free speech and free thought in the West.“
