 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
It is not as if the destructive passions brought real happiness. Slave owners lived in dread of servile insurrections, rival armed nations are obsessed by the fear of defeat in war. All who profit by injustice have to curb their more generous emotions, and remain ignorant of some of the greatest joys that human life has to offer.
Source： Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 1: From Ethcs to Politics, n.5
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Wealthy and powerful people all live with a sense of insecurity. Wealthy people who regularly donate a certain amount of their large income for welfare purposes can enjoy their wealthy lives with impunity and without much sense of insecurity. However, those who think that the poor are poor because they are not trying hard enough, or that it is better not to donate because easy support will kill their ambition, tend to be concerned about the way the poor look at them and unconsciously feel insecure.
The same applies to those in power. Power can make people feel that they have power when they can impose what they don't like. People who do not use their power in a restrained way thus live their lives with the fear that one day they may be harmed.
Russell says that such people ‘tend to live their whole lives without knowing some of the greatest joys that life has to offer’.
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