Top 35 quotes by Karl Popper

This philosopher and writer theorized about society. We review his best quotes.

Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) was an Austrian philosopher, professor and writer of Jewish origin, later naturalized British.

Popper is still studied in the faculties of social sciences in the West as one of the most prolific and profound thinkers of the twentieth century. His works, which embrace every form of political, philosophical and sociological analysis, were characterized by the analysis of his experiences in the two world wars at the beginning of the century.

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The best famous phrases of Karl Popper

Agnostic and anti-nationalist, Popper's work includes titles such as "The Open Society and its Enemies" or "The Logic of Scientific Inquiry". His social theories and thoughts are still central when it comes to analyzing the dynamics of society.

In this article we are going to compile the best quotes of Karl Popperan indispensable philosopher from whom we can learn a lot.

For a nation, freedom is more important than wealth, and, in political life, this is an indispensable condition for living at least humanely.

The foundations for democracy, according to Karl Popper.

2. In the name of tolerance, we should claim the right not to tolerate the intolerant.

A play on words that hides a great truth.

3. Whoever is incapable of speaking out should remain silent until he is able to do so.

If you are not able to express yourself properly... you'd better keep practicing until you do.

4. The open society is one in which men have learned to be to some extent critical of taboos, and to base decisions on the authority of their own intelligence.

Reflecting on the perfect society.

5. True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.

The ignorance sought is extreme misery, according to Popper.

6. Reason is not all-powerful, it is a tenacious worker, tentative, cautious, critical, implacable, willing to listen and discuss, risk-taking.

One of those phrases of Karl Popper that scrutinizes the characteristics of reason and reasonableness.

7. The increase of knowledge depends entirely on the existence of disagreement.

Disagreement builds better arguments and reasoning.

8. It is necessary to be against what has already been thought, against tradition, which cannot be dispensed with, but which cannot be trusted.

True to the critical and empirical spirit, Karl Popper makes it clear that tradition should not be inscrutable.

9. Science must begin with myths and with the critique of myths.

In the same sense as the famous quote above.

10. We should only sacrifice ourselves for ideals.

Proselyte of his ideas, Popper had clear ethical principles.

11. Science can be described as the art of systematic oversimplification.

His curious conception of science.

12. You can choose any name for the two types of government. Personally, I call the type of government that can be eliminated without violence "democracy", and the other "tyranny".

Differentiating between democracy and authoritarian forms of government.

13. No matter how many examples of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white.

This sentence is a clear demonstration of his radical rationalism.

14. No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.

A reflection to apply to daily life and avoid absurd arguments.

15. The game of science, in principle, never ends. Anyone who decides one day that scientific statements do not require any further testing and that they can be considered definitively verified, withdraws from the game.

Science certainly has the obligation to revise each of its knowledge. It is therefore dynamic by definition.

16. The history of political power is the history of international crime and mass murder.

A disheartening vision of international politics and the interests of rich nations.

17. Equality before the law is not a fact but a political demand based on a moral decision. And it is totally independent of the (probably false) theory that all men are born equal.

The ethics that should accompany any legal principle.

18. I may be wrong and you may be right and, with an effort, we can both come closer to the truth.

Disagreement can move us forward as a society.

19. It is impossible to speak in a way that cannot be misunderstood.

Words are always ambiguous, and it is difficult to avoid being misunderstood.

20. Theory dominates experimental work from its initial planning to the finishing touches in the laboratory.

Another of Popper's considerations on the scientific method.

21. For strictly logical reasons it is impossible for us to predict the course of history.

Becoming is impossible to predict. Not even by means of theories.

22. We do not know: we can only conjecture.

In this sentence, Karl Popper shows signs of a certain philosophical idealism.

23. I believe that challenge is the only excuse there is for lecturing. This is the only way the spoken word can be better than the printed word.

On your motivation to come to the fore.

24. That which promises us paradise on earth never produced anything but hell.

In this sentence, Popper makes clear his anti-religious stance.

25. Equality before the law is not a fact, but a political demand based on a moral decision. And it is totally independent of the theory -probably false- that all men are born equal.

This is a great thought, which takes up his position on equality, linking it with his notion of ethics.

26. When a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have understood neither the theory nor the problem it is supposed to solve.

Simplicity is usually doomed, since truth always has complex edges.

27. Our civilization has not yet fully recovered from the shock of its birth: the transition from the tribal or closed society, with its submission to magical forces, to the open society that liberates the critical powers of man.

A historically rapid transition that has led us to a society for which we have not been biologically prepared.

28. We can become the creators of our destiny when we have stopped thinking like prophets.

Living each moment is what propels us into the future.

29. The world is not made up of things, but of processes.

Constantly changing, nothing is immutable. A teaching of Karl Popper to keep in mind.

30. All life is a resolution of problems.

Therefore, we must adapt to constant uncertainty.

31. Science is the only human activity in which errors are criticized and corrected.

Without science it would be impossible to distinguish true knowledge from mere hearsay.

32. There is no one history of mankind; there are only many histories of all kinds of aspects of human life.

The understanding of civilization can only be partially studied.

33. We are social creatures at the core of our being. The idea that one can start anything from scratch, free from the past, or without the intervention of others, could not be more wrong.

Our cultural nature is indisputable, according to Popper.

34. The majority never establishes what is right or wrong; the majority can also be wrong.

An argument that some use to question the basis of democratic societies.

35. Our knowledge is necessarily finite, while our ignorance is necessarily infinite.

On knowledge and its limitations.