--- title: "1 Intellectual Independence Quotes By Karl R. Popper" description: "1 Intellectual Independence quotes by Karl R. Popper. Plus more from Karl R. Popper and more Intellectual Independence sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/karl-r-popper-13077_authoritarianism_but-the-secret-of-intellectual-excellenc_3046982.jpg" --- > [“But the secret of intellectual excellence is the spirit of criticism ; it is intellectual independence. And this leads to difficulties which must prove insurmountable for any kind of authoritarianism. The authoritarian will in general select those who obey, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/but-the-secret-of-intellectual-excellence-is-the-spirit-of-criticism/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/657/karl-r-popper-13077_authoritarianism_but-the-secret-of-intellectual-excellenc_3046982.jpg) ## More by Karl R. Popper > [“Most of us, it seems, have a strong inclination to accept the peculiarities of our social environment as if they were ‘natural’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/most-of-us-it-seems-have-a-strong-inclination-to-accept-the/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“The empirical basis of objective science has thus nothing ‘absolute’ about it.4 Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/the-empirical-basis-of-objective-science-has-thus-nothing-absolute/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Should you ever intend to dull the wits of a young man and to incapacitate his brains for any kind of thought whatever, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/should-you-ever-intend-to-dull-the-wits-of-a-young-man-and-to/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Historically, all ethics undoubtedly begin with religion; but I do not now deal with historical questions. I do not ask who was the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/historically-all-ethics-undoubtedly-begin-with-religion-but-i-do-not/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Society and the individual are thus interdependent. The one owes its existence to the other. Society owes its existence to human nature, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/society-and-the-individual-are-thus-interdependent-the-one-owes-its/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“All political ideals, that of making the people happy is perhaps the most dangerous one. It leads invariably to the attempt to impose our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/all-political-ideals-that-of-making-the-people-happy-is-perhaps-the/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“There is only one further use of violence in political quarrels which I should consider justified. I mean the resistance, once democracy has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/there-is-only-one-further-use-of-violence-in-political-quarrels-which/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“The fascist appeal to ‘human nature’ is to our passions, to our collectivist mystical needs, to ‘man the unknown’. Adopting Hegel’s words just quoted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/the-fascist-appeal-to-human-nature-is-to-our-passions-to-our/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“Instead of the greatest happiness for the greatest number, one should demand, more modestly, the least amount of avoidable suffering for all; and further,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/instead-of-the-greatest-happiness-for-the-greatest-number-one-should/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“According to this conception, the ultimate causes of all social changes and political revolutions are not increasing insight into justice; they are to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/according-to-this-conception-the-ultimate-causes-of-all-social/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“(a) Nationalism, in the form of the historicist idea that the state is the incarnation of the Spirit (or now, of the Blood) of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/a-nationalism-in-the-form-of-the-historicist-idea-that-the-state-is/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“We all remember how many religious wars were fought for a religion of love and gentleness; how many bodies were burned alive with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/we-all-remember-how-many-religious-wars-were-fought-for-a-religion-of/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“What we should do, I suggest, is to give up the idea of ultimate sources of knowledge, and admit that all knowledge is human;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/what-we-should-do-i-suggest-is-to-give-up-the-idea-of-ultimate/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“What a monument of human smallness is this idea of the philosopher king. What a contrast between it and the simplicity of humaneness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/what-a-monument-of-human-smallness-is-this-idea-of-the-philosopher/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) > [“History has no meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-r-popper/history-has-no-meaning/) [Karl R. Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-r-popper/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-independence/karl-r-popper/#itemlist", "name": "1 Intellectual Independence Quotes By Karl R. Popper", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But the secret of intellectual excellence is the spirit of criticism ; it is intellectual independence. And this leads to difficulties which must prove insurmountable for any kind of authoritarianism. The authoritarian will in general select those who obey, who believe, who respond to his influence. But in doing so, he is bound to select mediocrities. 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