The 7 Best Quotes By Karl Popper

Karl Popper was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1902 and died in London in 1994. He witnessed almost the entire 20th century, and was also one of its great critics. He was a philosopher by profession and a teacher by vocation. He was one of the most amazing modern thinkers. His quotes are proof of that.

Popper has been called the father of critical rationalism. He dedicated his life to asking questions about modern reason. Some of his contemporaries gave him a nickname as the master of common sense. He honored that nickname.

He spoke out against the scientific method, Marxism, anti-Semitism, metaphysics and everything that shaped the sphere of thought in the 20th century. He was exalted in England far more than in his homeland, where he was awarded the title of knight. Here we will give you some of Karl Popper’s best quotes, so you can get to know his thoughts a little better.

7 quotes by Karl Popper

1. Heaven and hell

Popper says, “Those who promise us heaven on earth never produced anything but hell.” It is a sharp critique of idealism, with its zeal for total perfection or total fulfillment.

In society, the search for perfect realities has led to the most radical manifestations of fascism.  In the individual’s life, the desire for the ideal leads to frustration. Therefore, Popper may be right in saying that heaven and hell are two sides of the same coin.

2. Change

Sometimes we think of the world, reality and ourselves as if everything were static and unchanged. But even inanimate objects always change. That is why Karl Popper said: “If God had wanted to place everything in the universe from the beginning, he would have created a universe without change, without organisms and evolution, and without man and man’s experience of change. But he seems to have thought that a living universe with unexpected events, even by God himself, would be more interesting than a dead one. ”

With this statement he reminds us that nothing is the same from one second to the next. That everything is constantly changing. Therefore , reality as such is incomprehensible, and we would only be able to capture moments or parts of it.

3. How reasoning works

For this Viennese philosopher, the main quality of reason is openness. That is why he confirms that: “When I speak of reason or rationalism, I speak of the belief that we can learn through criticism of our mistakes and mistakes, especially through criticism from others, and finally also through self-criticism.”

The sentence emphasizes the uncertainty and changeability that go hand in hand with reason. He speaks against having absolute ideas. Instead, he encourages us to explore and search for the reason behind our thoughts.

4. Equality

Regarding equality, a problem that was at the center of modern thought from the 18th to the 20th century, Popper notes the following: “freedom is more important than equality; that the attempt to achieve equality threatens freedom; and that if freedom is lost, there will not even be equality among the unfree. ”

This is one of Karl Popper’s quotes in which he emphasizes that freedom has a higher value. That equality is linked to freedom, and freedom will always be crucial.

5. Freedom and security

Freedom and security always have a push and pull relationship when we talk about power. We often discuss the dichotomy between the two. The paradox is that full freedom endangers stability, while strict security reduces freedom. An example of the latter is when a government issues a “curfew” during periods of danger.

In this connection, Karl Popper says: “We must plan for freedom and not just for security, because only freedom can make security safer. “ With this, he ends the debate in favor of freedom. He believes that real security only comes with real freedom.

6. Independence

The openness of society is directly linked to free thought and moral independence or autonomy. These are Popper’s words on the matter: “ åpne the open society is one where people have learned to be to some extent critical of taboos, and to make decisions based on their own intelligence. ”

It is interesting to note that Popper does not absolutely reject taboos. That is why he says that we should be critical “to a certain extent”. He was convinced that reason should not criticize anything outside of science. On the other hand, he emphasizes the idea that people must obey their own intelligence and not an external authority.

7. Science

This fantastic reflection from Popper points to what makes science different from another type of knowledge: “ But science is one of the few human activities – perhaps the only one – where errors are systematically criticized and quite often corrected . Therefore, we can say that in science often learns from our mistakes and why we can talk clearly and sensibly about making progress there. ”

This approach is very interesting. Some religions and politics present themselves as flawless. Science is superior, precisely because it is critical, to a large extent, of itself.

Karl Popper had one of the highest virtues among thinkers: he was intellectually honest. He showed a genuine desire to come up with ideas and ideas that would give him an accurate approach to reality. His influence was remarkable and left a lasting mark on the history of philosophy.