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

Karl Popper

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Karl Popper
Age: 92 †
Born: 1902
Born: July 28
Died: 1994
Died: September 17
Philosopher
Philosopher Of Science
Sociologist
University Teacher
Writer
Vienna
Austria
Karl Raimund Popper Sir
Karl Raimund
Sir Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper
Makes
Recklessly
Truth
Quests
Men
Quest
Persistent
Possession
Critical
Knowledge
Science
Irrefutable

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Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.
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A theory is just a mathematical model to describe the observations.
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Criticism of my alleged views was widespread and highly successful. I have yet to meet a criticism of my views.
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Reason like science, grows by way of mutual criticism the only possible way of planning its growth is to develop those institutions that safeguard. the freedom of thought
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[To] interpret Parmenides as a Kant before Kant ... this is exactly what we must do.
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We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than only freedom can make security more secure.
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A theory that explains everything, explains nothing
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If you know that things are bound to happen whatever you do, then you may feel free to give up the fight against them.
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What really makes science grow is new ideas, including false ideas.
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The attempt to make heaven on earth invariably produces hell.
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Some scientists find, or so it seems, that they get their best ideas when smoking others by drinking coffee or whisky. Thus there is no reason why I should not admit that some may get their ideas by observing, or by repeating observations.
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My thesis is that what we call 'science' is differentiated from the older myths not by being something distinct from a myth, but by being accompanied by a second-order tradition-that of critically discussing the myth. ... In a certain sense, science is myth-making just as religion is.
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Whenever we propose a solution to a problem, we ought to try as hard as we can to overthrow our solution, rather than defend it.
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A system is empirical or scientific only if it is capable of being tested by experience. These considerations suggest that not the verifiability but the falsifiability of a system is to be taken as a criterion of demarcation... It must be possible for an empirical or scientific system to be refuted by experience.
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No particular theory may ever be regarded as absolutely certain.... No scientific theory is sacrosanct.
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Simple statements are to be prized more highly than less simple ones because they tell us more because their empirical content is greater and because they are better testable.
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There is no history, only histories.
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In my view, aiming at simplicity and lucidity is a moral duty of all intellectuals: lack of clarity is a sin, and pretentiousness is a crime.
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We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.
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The survival value of intelligence is that it allows us to extinct a bad idea, before the idea extincts us.
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