The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

world-wide. This is a matter in which older men
should be able to give much assistance to the
young, since a considerable experience of mankind
is essential.
It is customary in these days of psycho-analysis to
assume that, when any young person is out of
harmony with his environment, the cause must lie
in some psychological disorder. This is to my mind
a complete mistake. Suppose, for example, that a
young person has parents who believe the doctrine
of evolution to be wicked. Nothing except
intelligence is required in such a case to cause him
to be out of sympathy with them. To be out of
harmony with one’s surroundings is, of course, a
misfortune, but it is not always a misfortune to be
avoided at all costs. Where the environment is
stupid or prejudiced or cruel, it is a sign of merit
to be out of harmony with it. And to some degree
these characteristics exist in almost every
environment. Galileo and Kepler had ‘dangerous
thoughts’ (as they are called in Japan), and so have
the most intelligent men of our own day. It is not