“There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths.”

—  Bertrand Russell

Source: 1950s, Human Society in Ethics and Politics (1954), p. 219-220
Context: There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed.

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Bertrand Russell 562
logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and politi… 1872–1970

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