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" No; we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful? "
Bertrand Russell
Why
Wrong
Singing
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" Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know. "
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" None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear. "
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" Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means of escape from the loneliness which afflicts most men and women throughout the greater part of their lives. "
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" I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. "
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" The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children to be a credit to them. "
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" I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its Churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. "
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" Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear. "
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" With the introduction of agriculture mankind entered upon a long period of meanness, misery, and madness, from which they are only now being freed by the beneficent operation of the machine. "
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" Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance. "
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" Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, Thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought is great and swift and free. "
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" The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause. "
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" A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it. "
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" There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge. "
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" Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure. "
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" There is no need to worry about mere size. We do not necessarily respect a fat man more than a thin man. Sir Isaac Newton was very much smaller than a hippopotamus, but we do not on that account value him less. "
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" The most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. "
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" Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous and loathed because they impose slavery. "
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" I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex. "
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