Karl Popper Quotes

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

Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.

I remained a socialist for several years, even after my rejection of Marxism; and if there could be such a thing as socialism combined with individual liberty, I would be a socialist still. For nothing could be better than living a modest, simple, and free life in an egalitarian society. It took some time before I recognized this as no more than a beautiful dream; that freedom is more important than equality; that the attempt to realize equality endangers freedom; and that, if freedom is lost, there will not even be equality among the unfree.

In so far as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable; and in so far as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality.

Science may be described as the art of systematic over-simplification.

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

Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.

Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell.

It is complete nihilism to propose laying down arms in a world where atom bombs are around. It is very simple: there is no way of achieving peace other than with weapons.

A theory that explains everything, explains nothing