Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Russell observes that each nation sees itself as more virtuous than others and sees others as more wicked.
In plain terms
Nations view themselves as good and others as bad.
What can you take from it?
Self‑favoritism and other‑denigration are common in national narratives.

Where it applies

  • international relations
  • media analysis

Putting it to work

  • examining propaganda
  • promoting cross‑cultural understanding

Questions to consider

  • Why do groups tend to view themselves positively?
  • How does this bias affect diplomacy?

Another view

The statement may overgeneralize individual attitudes.

More from Bertrand Russell

  1. Every philosophical problem, when it is subjected to the necessary analysis and justification, is found either to be not really philosophical at all, or else t…

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly.

    Permalink to quote #12
  3. In the revolt against idealism, the ambiguities of the word 'experience' have been perceived, with the result that realists have more and more avoided the word…

    Permalink to quote #9

Related quotes

  1. The Nazis hated culture itself, because it is essentially international and therefore subversive of nationalism. What they called Nazi culture was a local, per…

    Christopher IsherwoodChristopher Isherwood quote #14
  2. Qui ne voudrait pas rester persuade que ces femmes sont vertueuses? Ne sont-elles pas la fleur du pays? Ne sont-elles pas toutes verdissantes, ravissantes, eto…

    Honore de BalzacHonore de Balzac quote #21
  3. To shut our eyes to the part that John Smith plays in the perpetuation of unworkable policies, in building up the forces of which he becomes the victim, is to …

    Norman AngellNorman Angell quote #23