Quote #98
William James used to preach the 'will to believe.' For my part, I should wish to preach the 'will to doubt.' None of our beliefs are quite true; all at least have a penumbra of vagueness and error.
More from Bertrand Russell
- Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous and loathe…
- What is wanted is not the will-to-believe, but the wish to find out, which is its exact opposite.
- It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true.
- Americans need rest, but do not know it. I believe this to be a large part of the explanation of the crime wave in the United States.
- In obedience to the feeling of reality, we shall insist that, in the analysis of propositions, nothing 'unreal' is to be admitted. But, aft…
- Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not…
- For want of the apparatus of propositional functions, many logicians have been driven to the conclusion that there are unreal objects. It i…
- Children must be under authority, and are themselves aware that they must be, although they like to play a game of rebellion at times. The …