Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-09), “The Role of Individuality,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 3, BBC Radio

Dave — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 19:05:28 +0000

But as men grow more industrialised and regimented, the kind of delight that is common in children becomes impossible to adults because they are always thinking of the next thing and cannot let themselves be absorbed in the moment. This habit of thinking of the ‘next thing’ is more fatal to any kind of aesthetic excellence than any other habit of mind that can be imagined, and if art, in any important sense, is to survive it will not be by the foundation of solemn academies, but by recapturing the capacity for wholehearted joys and sorrows which prudence and foresight have all but destroyed.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-09), “The Role of Individuality,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 3, BBC Radio
(Source)

Transcript. Collected, with edits, in Authority and the Individual (1949).

WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-09), “The Role of Individuality,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 3, BBC Radio