What Bertrand Russell thinks about government
British philosopher and logician (1872 to 1970), also a social critic; co-author with Alfred North Whitehead of Principia Mathematica (1910 to 1913), author of The Problems of Philosophy (1912), awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
Bertrand Russell did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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6 dated positions, c. 1917, in their own words. Our reading of what Bertrand Russell has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsDemocracy is a device—the best so far invented—for diminishing as much as possible the interference of governments with liberty. If a nation is divided into two sections which cannot both have their way, democracy theoretically insures that the majority shall have their way.
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Their wordsThe whole realm of thought and opinion is utterly unsuited to public control; it ought to be as free, and as spontaneous as is possible to those who know what others have believed.
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Their wordsThe punishment of conscientious objectors seems clearly a violation of individual liberty within its legitimate sphere.
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Their wordsTo preserve and strengthen the impulse that makes individuality should be the foremost object of all political institutions.
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Their wordsThere is no more justification for the claim to absolute sovereignty on the part of a state than there would be for a similar claim on the part of an individual.
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Their wordsThe international authority ought to possess an army and navy, and these ought to be the only army and navy in existence.