Bertrand Russell Quotes

None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.

No one is always right.

Certitude is not the test of certainty. We have been cocksure of many things that are not so

Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatic. The man who knows nothing thinks he is teaching others what he has just learned himself; the man who knows a great deal can't imagine that what he is saying is not common knowledge, and speaks more indifferently.

The more sure you are, the more wrong you can be.

If absolute truth belongs to anyone in this world, it certainly does not belong to the man or party that claims to possess it.

Sincerity that thinks it is the sole possessor of the truth is a deadlier sin than hypocrisy, which knows better.

All this happened, more or less.

Error is certainty's constant companion. Error is the corollary of evidence. And anything said about truth may equally well be said about error: the delusion will be no greater.

A dogmatic tone is generally inspired by abysmal ignorance. The man who knows nothing thinks he is informing others of something which he has that moment learnt; the man who knows a great deal can scarcely believe that people are ignorant of what he is telling them, and speaks more diffidently.

Pursuit of the approximate can conclude. Not so pursuit of the absolute.

I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macaulay is of everything.

It's most presumptuous to believe we already know all the answers and will never get any more big surprises.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

I feel arrogant trying to give people advice.

Beware of anyone who says they know. Trust me, they don't, or they wouldn't have to say they did.

Folly always knows the answer.

Nothing fortifies scepticism more than the fact that there are some who are not sceptics; if all were so, they would be wrong.

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.

The man who voyages strange seas must of necessity be a little unsure of himself. It is the man with the flashy air of knowing everything, who is always with it, that we should beware of.

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty.

He that is always right is usually wrong.