Tuesday, May 15, 2007

My first intellectual hero

Bertrand Russell was my first hero of the mind. The early work that influenced me was, first, his work in mathematics, for that was my passion in my teens; then his essay "Why I Am Not A Christian"; and finally his incredible book "Marriage and Morals." Russell argues that marriage exists for children, not for parents, and therefore child-less adults should not marry at all. This certainly solves the gay marriage controversy if even heterosexual adults can't marry unless the woman is pregnant! I love it.
"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth—more than ruin—more even than death. ... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."
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