Sunday, December 17, 2006

Bertrand Russell A Rebel Outcast Embraced


Bertrand Russell - A Father Of Sixties Counter Culture

"A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men."

I didn't know much about Bertrand Russell when I first posted his quote in the banner space to my blog. I still wouldn't claim much knowledge about the man. I am however impressed with what I have read about Bertrand Russell. His Grandfather was Prime Minister of England, his father was an esteemed politician, and Bertrand himself was groomed for political leadership from early childhood. He was a member of the British Aristocracy, but despite his blazing intellect he never accepted his anointed social status.

For his rebellious nature he paid the price in many ways, yet he lived long enough to see his liberal ideals embraced by the counter culture of the 1960's. Make love not war might have summed up his approach, but he was vastly more complex than that.

I'll probably never take the time needed to learn about Bertrand Russell as much as he certainly warrants, yet in my own very small way I hoped to honor him this last week by quoting him, posting his photo, and including a link for interested readers.

If I live long enough I wish that one day I'll have both the time, and energy to grab up a pair of spectacles, sit at the fireplace, and begin to read his philosophical works. I know that if I don't I will have missed out on something very important.

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