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Full Idea
Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.
Gist of Idea
Philosophers must get used to absurdities
Source
Bertrand Russell (Problems of Philosophy [1912], Ch. 2)
Book Ref
Russell,Bertrand: 'The Problems of Philosophy' [OUP 1995], p.9
A Reaction
He says this jokingly, but it is obviously true. Philosophy requires extreme imagination, and it also requires taking seriously possibilities that are dismissed by others. It would be a catastrophe if we all dismissed the truth as self-evidently false.