Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 8 “Persecution Mania” (1930)

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 16:23:49 +0000

If we were all given by magic the power to read each other’s thoughts I suppose the first effect would be that almost all friendships would be dissolved.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 8 “Persecution Mania” (1930)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 20, Hogfather (1996)

Dave — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:49:34 +0000

“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need … fantasies to make life bearable.”
Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little –”
Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing.
“They’re not the same at all!”
You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet — Death waved a hand. And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some … some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point –”
My point exactly.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 20, Hogfather (1996)
(Source)

WIST Quotations

Russell, Bertrand -- Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 8 “Persecution Mania” (1930)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 20, Hogfather (1996)