To silence criticism is to silence freedom.

Religious tolerance has developed more as a consequence of the impotence of religions to impose their dogmas on each other than as a consequence of spiritual humility in the quest for understanding first and last things.

No one who accepts the sovereignty of truth can be a foot soldier in a party or movement. He will always find himself out of step.

To deny me the right to err is therefore to deny me the right to believe.

Fear of death has been the greatest ally of tyranny past and present.

Everyone recognizes a distinction between knowledge and wisdom. . . Wisdom is a kind of knowledge. It is knowledge of the nature, career, and consequences of human values. Since these cannot be separated from the human organism and the social scene, the moral ways of man cannot be understood without knowledge of the ways of things and institutions.

The next time anyone asks you "What is Bertrand Russell's philosophy?" the correct answer is "What year, please?"