 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Lying in my bed feeling that I was not going to die was surprisingly delightful. I had always imagined until then that I was fundamentally pessimistic and did not greatly value being alive. I discovered that in this I had been completely mistaken, and that life was infinitely sweet to me.
Source: Bertrand Russell: The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, v.2 chap. 3: China, 1968
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Russell contracted the flu in Beijing and was on the verge of death. Russell, who had recovered from his illness, stopped in Japan and stayed there from July 17 to July 30, 1921, on his way back to England. He accepted an invitation from Kaizosha, the publisher of the progressive magazine Kaizo at the time, and spent two hectic weeks being taken around Japan. As such, he had a great influence on Japanese intellectuals at the time.
Russell's next major influence on the Japanese was in the 1960s, when he was active in the movement to abolish nuclear weapons. The Asahi Shimbun (head of the editorial, Mr. Shintaro Ryu, was also the president of the Japan Bertrand Russell Association) asked Russell to visit Japan, with Asahi covering all the expenses, but unfortunately it was not possible due to his old age.
Russell wrote about that time in his Autobiography:
"Since that time I have made several journeys abroad, though none so long as that to Pugwash. I fight shy of longer journeys partly because I fear if I go to one country people in other countries who have pressed me to go there will be affronted. The only way around this, for one who is not an official personage, is to renounce distant travels. "