Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (1930), Chapter 2: Byronic Unhappiness.
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If either the absence or the presence of novelty is equally annoying, it would hardly seem that either could be the true cause of despair.

— Bertrand Russell on Despair

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If either the absence or the presence of novelty is equally annoying, it would hardly seem that either could be the true cause of despair." in the context of "Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (1930), Chapter 2: Byronic Unhappiness." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Despair" (Quotes: Alphabetized by author ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 08, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bertrand Russell

About Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. In 1950, he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature.