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Reviews
Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell
stacy_wilson's review against another edition
3.0
"What is 'unrighteousness' in practice? It is in practice behavior of a kind disliked by the herd. By calling it unrighteousness, and by arranging an elaborate system of ethics around this conception, the herd justifies itself in wreaking punishment upon the objects of its own dislike, while at the same time, since the herd is righteous by definition, it enhances its own self-esteem at the very moment when it lets loose its impulse to cruelty. This is the psychology of lynching, and of the other ways in which criminals are punished. The essence of the conception of righteousness, therefore, is to afford an outlet for sadism by cloaking cruelty as justice."
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Knowledge and love are both indefinitely extensible; Therefore, however good a life may be, a better life can be imagined."
"Love as an emotion-which is what I am speaking about, for love 'on principle' does not seem to me genuine-moves between two poles: on one side, pure delight in contemplation; on the other, pure benevolence. Where inanimate objects are concerned, delight alone enters in; we cannot feel benevolence toward a landscape or a sonata. This type of enjoyment is presumably the source of art. It is stronger, as a rule, in very young children than in adults, who are apt to view objects in a utilitarian spirit. It plays a large part in our feelings toward human beings, some of whom have charm and some the reverse, when considered simply as objects of aesthetic contemplation.
The opposite pole of love is pure benevolence...Parental affection, as a rule, is accompanied by pleasure in the child's appearance but remains strong when this element is wholly absent...it is difficult to find any other word to describe the desire for another person's welfare...
Love at its fullest is an indissoluble combination of the two elements, delight and well-wishing. The pleasure of a parent in a beautiful and successful child combines both elements; so does sex love at its best...Delight without well-wishing may be cruel; well-wishing without delight easily tends to become cold and a little superior."
"There is, so far as I know, no way of dealing with envy except to make the lives of the envious happier and fuller..."
"To be a nice person it is necessary to be protected from crude contact with reality, and those who do the protecting cannot be expected to share the niceness that they preserve."
"Children, like young trees, require soil and light and air and neighbors of their own kind. Children ought to be in the country, where they can have freedom without excitement."
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Knowledge and love are both indefinitely extensible; Therefore, however good a life may be, a better life can be imagined."
"Love as an emotion-which is what I am speaking about, for love 'on principle' does not seem to me genuine-moves between two poles: on one side, pure delight in contemplation; on the other, pure benevolence. Where inanimate objects are concerned, delight alone enters in; we cannot feel benevolence toward a landscape or a sonata. This type of enjoyment is presumably the source of art. It is stronger, as a rule, in very young children than in adults, who are apt to view objects in a utilitarian spirit. It plays a large part in our feelings toward human beings, some of whom have charm and some the reverse, when considered simply as objects of aesthetic contemplation.
The opposite pole of love is pure benevolence...Parental affection, as a rule, is accompanied by pleasure in the child's appearance but remains strong when this element is wholly absent...it is difficult to find any other word to describe the desire for another person's welfare...
Love at its fullest is an indissoluble combination of the two elements, delight and well-wishing. The pleasure of a parent in a beautiful and successful child combines both elements; so does sex love at its best...Delight without well-wishing may be cruel; well-wishing without delight easily tends to become cold and a little superior."
"There is, so far as I know, no way of dealing with envy except to make the lives of the envious happier and fuller..."
"To be a nice person it is necessary to be protected from crude contact with reality, and those who do the protecting cannot be expected to share the niceness that they preserve."
"Children, like young trees, require soil and light and air and neighbors of their own kind. Children ought to be in the country, where they can have freedom without excitement."
bof's review against another edition
3.0
Thought provoking but everuthing is about christianity so i was a bit disappointed by that
bridgetreads16's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
rich71's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent refutation of organized religion as it applies to morality. Russell articulates many skeptics' dubious opinions of organized religion's benefits to society balanced with their oppressive, restrictive, and bigoted attitudes. His essays on sex education and free thought were most salient for me and speak to the ills our society generates in the name of "decency" or being "nice". Russell has a healthy amount of cynicism but doesn't allow this to blur his analytical precision in his essays. A very worthy example of Russell's writing and one I would encourage those who are burdened with free thought to read.
pyrokel's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Russell's writing is spectacular, and the topics he writes about genuinely sound like they could have been written last week instead of nearly a century ago.
bartmac's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
naindu's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Não pensaríamos em estudar um ninho de formigas para saber que formigas cumpriam os seus deveres, e tão-pouco pensaríamos em selecionar as formigas preguiçosas e pô-las na fogueira.
Uma colecção de ensaios de Russel onde nos é dado a conhecer o que pensa o autor sobre a Religião, Deus, moralidade, etc...
Particularmente interessante e actual é o apêndice onde é narrado de forma sucinta a perseguição religiosa que Bertrand Russel sofreu ao ser nomeado professor no City College de Nova York.