Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted. – Bertrand Russell
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. – Bertrand Russell
The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell. – Bertrand Russell
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. – Bertrand Russell
The AIDS epidemic has rolled back a big rotting log and revealed all the squirming life underneath it, since it involves, all at once, the main themes of our existence: sex, death, power, money, love, hate, disease and panic. No American phenomenon has been so compelling since the Vietnam War. – Edmund White