Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Quote of the Day: More Bertrand Russell

What makes a free thinker is not his beliefs, but the way in which he holds them. If he holds them because his elders told him they were true when he was young, or if he holds them because if he did not he would be unhappy, his thought is not free; but if he holds them because, after careful thought, he finds a balance in their favor, then his thought is free, however odd his conclusions may seem.
-- Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Free Thought"

4 comments:

Orthoprax said...

JA,

So true. I've said many times that it is far less important what you believe than why you believe it.

ADDeRabbi said...

it's not a binary choice, much as Russel (and you?) would like to think so. There's so much in between blind acceptance of tradition and unbiased evaluation.

Marilyn said...

Very well said, Bertrand Russell. I am a Christian and I believe this is important for Christians and all people of faith of various religions. We must make our believes truly "our own."

JCMasterpiece said...

But just because someone thinks freely does not mean that what they think is healthy and constructive. I have plently of "free-thinking" clients who have buried themselves so much in their free thinking that they've buried any sort of thruth.