“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Knowledge is the means to love. If men could be made to understand the immensity of the world, the diversity of human experience, the range of human passion, the depths of human thought, they would become less dogmatic.”
—
Bertrand Russell
Various essays and lectures; often cited from collections of Russell's work
Commentary
Russell links knowledge to moral development: understanding the vast complexity of the world erodes dogmatism. Dogmatism thrives on ignorance and provincialism; knowledge expands perspective and generates intellectual humility.
This is not mere intellectualism. Russell insists that love is the animating principle ('good life is inspired by love') while knowledge guides it. Together they constitute ethical life. This influenced twentieth-century humanist ethics.
Commentary
Russell links knowledge to moral development: understanding the vast complexity of the world erodes dogmatism. Dogmatism thrives on ignorance and provincialism; knowledge expands perspective and generates intellectual humility.
This is not mere intellectualism. Russell insists that love is the animating principle ('good life is inspired by love') while knowledge guides it. Together they constitute ethical life. This influenced twentieth-century humanist ethics.