If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie.

Sometimes misquoted as "If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." | Sometimes misattributed to Anatole France | Note that Russell does say something similar in Marriage and Morals (1929): "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."