In guarding their fortune men are often closefisted, yet, when it comes to the matter of wasting time, in the case of the one thing in which it is right to be miserly, they show themselves most prodigal. And so I should like to lay...
Boredom is the consciousness of repetition. Whenever you feel bored, you feel restless, a by-product of boredom. Try to understand the mechanism. Whenever you feel bored you want to move away from that situation. If somebody is saying something and you are getting bored, you start becoming...
Once upon a time there was a samurai who was very dexterous with the sword and at the same time, haughty and arrogant. In some way, he only felt important when he killed an adversary in combat and, for this reason, he was always looking...
Choose the way of life. Choose the way of love. Choose the way of caring. Choose the way of hope. Choose the way of belief in tomorrow. Choose the way of trusting. Choose the way of goodness. It's up to you. It's your choice. You...
I occasionally pretended to take life seriously. But very soon the frivolity of seriousness struck me and I merely went on playing my role as well as I could. I played at being efficient, intelligent, virtuous, civic-minded, shocked, indulgent, fellow-spirited, edifying ...
A flea, a grasshopper, and a leap frog once wanted to see which could jump highest; and they invited the whole world, and everybody else besides to come to see the festival. Three famous jumpers were they, as everyone would say, when they all met...
There has been much debate over the centuries about the true nature of human beings. Are we inherently selfish or altruistic? Are we born to be miserable or to live in joy? Are we inherently loving or violent? Will we ultimately be a locust on...
A flea settled upon the bare foot of a Wrestler and bit him, causing the man to call loudly upon Hercules for help. When the Flea a second time hopped upon his foot, he groaned and said, “O Hercules! if you will not help me against...
You ask me, little man, when you will have a good, secure life. The answer is alien to your nature. You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public or partisan...
Bertrand Russell's main interests as a teenager were sex, religion and mathematics — all at a theoretical level. In his very long life (he died in 1970, aged 97) he ended up being controversial about the first, attacking the second, and making important contributions to...
