---
title: "3 Rationalist Quotes By Karl Popper"
description: "3 Rationalist quotes by Karl Popper. Plus more from Karl Popper and more Rationalist sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/karl-popper-2167_buddhism_the-true-enlightenment-thinker-the-true_1975296.jpg"
---

> [The true Enlightenment thinker, the true rationalist, never wants to talk anyone into anything. No, he does not even want to convince;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-true-enlightenment-thinker-the-true-rationalist-never-wants-to/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/13a/karl-popper-2167_buddhism_the-true-enlightenment-thinker-the-true_1975296.jpg)

> [The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth; nor does he think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-genuine-rationalist-does-not-think-that-he-or-anyone-else-is-in/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4c/karl-popper-2167_achieve_the-genuine-rationalist-does-not-think-t_2222715.jpg)

> [A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/a-rationalist-is-simply-someone-for-whom-it-is-more-important-to/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/karl-popper-2167_criticize_a-rationalist-is-simply-someone-for-whom_2544411.jpg)

## More by Karl Popper

> [Science is not a system of certain, or -established, statements; nor is it a system which steadily advances towards a state of finality... And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-not-a-system-of-certain-or-established-statements-nor-is/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [“As indicated by our example, methodological nominalism is nowadays fairly generally accepted in the natural sciences. The problems of the social sciences, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/as-indicated-by-our-example-methodological-nominalism-is-nowadays/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [Science is perhaps the only human activity in which errors are systematically criticized and, in time, corrected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/science-is-perhaps-the-only-human-activity-in-which-errors-are/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [A system is empirical or scientific only if it is capable of being tested by experience. These considerations suggest that not the verifiability but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/a-system-is-empirical-or-scientific-only-if-it-is-capable-of-being/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [Bold ideas, unjustified anticipations, and speculative thought, are our only means for interpreting nature: our only organon, our only instrument, for grasping her. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/bold-ideas-unjustified-anticipations-and-speculative-thought-are-our/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [ \[The aim of science is\] to explain what so far has taken to be an explicans, such as a law of nature. The task… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-aim-of-science-is-to-explain-what-so-far-has-taken-to-be-an/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [There can be no ultimate statements science: there can be no statements in science which can not be tested, and therefore none which cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/there-can-be-no-ultimate-statements-science-there-can-be-no/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [Evolution is not a fact. Evolution doesn't even qualify as a theory or as a hypothesis. It is a metaphysical research program, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/evolution-is-not-a-fact-evolution-doesn-t-even-qualify-as-a-theory-or/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [I am opposed to looking upon logic as a kind of game. ... One might think that it is a matter of choice or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/i-am-opposed-to-looking-upon-logic-as-a-kind-of-game-one-might-think/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [The history of science, like the history of all human ideas, is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/the-history-of-science-like-the-history-of-all-human-ideas-is-a/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/good-tests-kill-flawed-theories-we-remain-alive-to-guess-again/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [There is no pure, disinterested, theory-free observation,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/there-is-no-pure-disinterested-theory-free-observation/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [We have the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should tolerate even them whenever we can do so without running a great risk;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/we-have-the-right-not-to-tolerate-the-intolerant-we-should-tolerate/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [Better our hypotheses die for our errors than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/better-our-hypotheses-die-for-our-errors-than-ourselves/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

> [“Every time we proceed to explain some conjectural law or theory by a new conjectural theory of a higher degree of universality, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/every-time-we-proceed-to-explain-some-conjectural-law-or-theory-by-a/)

[Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/)

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