“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Source: 1920s, Sceptical Essays (1928), Ch. 12: Free Thought and Official Propaganda
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
“What we need is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is its exact opposite.”
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Romantic poet
This was not Wordsworth's viewpoint at all. The words are in fact those of Bertrand Russell in his Sceptical Essays (1928), p. 157.
Misattributed
Allan Bloom (1930–1992) American philosopher, classicist, and academician
“Western Civ,” p. 22.
Giants and Dwarfs (1990)
Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism
1850s, Two Discourses at Friday Communion (August 1851)
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Greg Craven American teacher and writer
Source: What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate (2009), Chapter 1 "The Decision Grid" (p. 19)
Peter Kreeft (1937) American philosopher
Source: "The Pillars of Unbelief," National Catholic Register Jan-Feb 1988