Karl Popper

A theory is just a mathematical model to describe the observations.

— Karl Popper

What really makes science grow is new ideas, including false ideas.

— Karl Popper

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

— Karl Popper

The attempt to make heaven on earth invariably produces hell.

— Karl Popper

Definitions… are never really needed, and rarely of any use

— Karl Popper

The future is always present, as a promise, a lure and a temptation.

— Karl Popper

The conspiracy theory of society... comes from abandoning god and then asking: "Who is in his place"

— Karl Popper

It can't happen here is always wrong: a dictatorship can happen anywhere.

— Karl Popper

It is the rule which says that the other rules of scientific procedure must be designed in such a way that they…

— Karl Popper

It is not his possession of knowledge, of irrefutable truth, that makes the man of science, but his persistent and recklessly critical…

— Karl Popper

no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are…

— Karl Popper

The quest for precision is analogous to the quest for certainty and both - precision and certainty are impossible to attain.

— Karl Popper

But it is certainly not possible to insist on one hand that the formalism is complete and to insist on the other…

— Karl Popper

I see now more clearly than ever before that even our greatest troubles spring from something that is [as] admirable and sound…

— Karl Popper

If you know that things are bound to happen whatever you do, then you may feel free to give up the fight…

— Karl Popper

We all remember how many religious wars were fought for a religion of love and gentleness; how many bodies were burned alive…

— Karl Popper

To give a causal explanation of an event means to deduce a statement which describes it, using as premises of the deduction…

— Karl Popper

The fundamental thing about human languages is that they can and should be used to describe something; and this something is, somehow,…

— Karl Popper

I think that we shall have to get accustomed to the idea that we must not look upon science as a 'body…

— Karl Popper

The growth of our knowledge is the result of a process closely resembling what Darwin called 'natural selection'; that is, the natural…

— Karl Popper

Propose theories which can be criticized. Think about possible decisive falsifying experiments-crucial experiments. But do not give up your theories too easily-not,…

— Karl Popper

Understanding a theory has, indeed, much in common with understanding a human personality. We may know or understand a man's system of…

— Karl Popper

Instead of encouraging the student to devote himself to his studies for the sake of studying, instead of encouraging in him a…

— Karl Popper

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we…

— Karl Popper

Aestheticism and radicalism must lead us to jettison reason, and to replace it by a desperate hope for political miracles. This irrational…

— Karl Popper

Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were, above a swamp. It is…

— Karl Popper

Why do I think that we, the intellectuals, are able to help? Simply because we, the intellectuals, have done the most terrible…

— Karl Popper

Every intellectual has a very special responsibility. He has the privilege and the opportunity of studying. In return, he owes it to…

— Karl Popper

“in the field of ethics, of moral knowledge, it was approached by Kant with his principle of autonomy. This principle expresses his…

— Karl Popper

“There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life.…

— Karl Popper

“It seems as if historicist ideas easily become prominent in times of great social change. They appeared when Greek tribal life broke…

— Karl Popper

“Perhaps the most powerful cause of the breakdown of the closed society was the development of sea-communications and commerce. Close contact with…

— Karl Popper

Historically speaking all - or very nearly all - scientific theories originate from myths.

— Karl Popper

Plato felt that a complete reconstruction of society's political program was needed.

— Karl Popper

We hate the very idea that our own ideas may be mistaken, so we cling dogmatically to our conjectures.

— Karl Popper

If you can't say it simply and clearly, keep quiet, and keep working on it till you can.

— Karl Popper

Genuine philosophical problems are always rooted outside philosophy and they die if these roots decay.

— Karl Popper

All we can do is search for the falsity content in our best theory.

— Karl Popper

Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it.

— Karl Popper

Contrary to the outstanding work of art, outstanding theory is susceptible to improvements.

— Karl Popper