Bertrand Russell Quotes

To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

In philosophy you're never 100% sure. You're always undermining what you think you know. That's always been my philosophy and my intellectual ethos.

The great benefit of philosophy, which is also its great weakness, is that all its steps are taken in the spirit of doubt.

The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.

What is important is that one utilizes one's intellect and not to be 100 percent sure about one's convictions. One should always leave room for doubt.

Doubt is the origin of wisdom.

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.

I could be wrong. Not being certain is what being a philosopher is all about.

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.

Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

I have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined to agree with him.

True science teaches, above all, to doubt and to be ignorant.

Doubt grows with knowledge.

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.

Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.

Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.

Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.

There is a cleansing humility about doubt.

A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks questioning itself and being engulfed in doubt.

I am too much of a sceptic to deny the possibility of anything...

Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passion. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.

Of all the weaknesses little men rail against, there is none that they are more apt to ridicule than the tendency to believe. And of all the signs of a corrupt heart and a feeble head, the tendency of incredulity is the surest. Real philosophy seeks rather to solve than to deny.

If you haven't doubted, you probably haven't thought very hard about what you believe.

We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress, we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt.