Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Karl Popper

Quote by Karl Popper

Work

Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Karl Popper
Karl Popper

Karl Popper (July 28, 1902 – September 17, 1994) was an influential philosopher known for his work on critical rationalism and falsificationism. He is renowned for his contributions to the philosophy of science, political philosophy, and epistemology, with his ideas having a profound impact on these fields. more

You May Also Like

“I have long been of the Opinion, says he, that the Fire was a vast Blessing and the Plague likewise; it gave us Occasion to understand the Secrets of Nature which otherwise might have overwhelm'd us. (I busied my self with the right Order of the Draughts, and said nothing.) With what Firmness of Mind, Sir Chris. went on, did the People see their City devoured, and I can still remember how after the Plague and the Fire the Chearfulnesse soon returned to them: Forgetfulnesse is the great Mystery of Time. I remember, I said as I took a Chair opposite to him, how the Mobb applauded the Flames. I remember how they sang and danced by the Corses during the Contagion: that was not Chearfulnesse but Phrenzy. And I remember, also, the Rage and the Dying - These were the Accidents of Fortune, Nick, from which we have learned so much in this Generation. It was said, sir, that the Plague and the Fire were no Accidents but Substance, that they were the Signes of the Beast withinne. And Sir Chris. laughed at this. At which point Nat put his Face in: Do you call, sirs? Would you care for a Dish of Tea or some Wine? Some Tea, some Tea, cried Sir Chris. for the Fire gives me a terrible Thirst. But no, no, he continued when Nat had left the Room, you cannot assign the Causes of Plague or Fire to Sin. It was the negligence of Men that provoked those Disasters and for Negligence there is a Cure; only Terrour is the Hindrance. Terrour, I said softly, is the Lodestone of our Art.”

HumanityFireMankindTerrorRationalityPlague
Book:Hawksmoor
Create image

“It would be indeed unusual if it turned out that the set of orders that our mind is able to construct and accept, having as it does a deep sense of “understanding the essence of things,” matches precisely the set of all possible orders to be detected in the Universe as a whole. We should admit that this is not impossible, yet it does seem highly improbable. This way of thinking, so modest in its assessment of our abilities, is probably the only way recommended, given our lack of knowledge, because we are not aware of our limitations.”

MindPhilosophyScienceUniverseMankindLimitations
Book:Summa technologiae
Create image

“To što mi radimo da bismo si tobože zajamčili život, radi i noj kad gurne glavu u pijesak da ne vidi kako će ga ubiti. Samo što smo mi gori od noja, jer zbog neizvjesnog života u neizvijesnoj budućnosti upropaštavamo život koji sigurno imamo u sadašnjosti. Obmana je u pogrešnoj pretpostavci da sigurnost života proizlazi iz borbe s drugim ljudima. Mi smo do te mjere navikli na prividnu sigurnost svojeg života i svoje imovine, da i ne primjećujemo što sve zbog toga gubimo. A gubimo sve - sav život. Sav život gutaju brige, tako da od pravoga života ne ostaje ništa. Dovoljno je na trenutak se otrgnuti od navika i trijezno promotriti kakav je naš život: sve što radimo u ime prividne sigurnosti života uopće nije zato da bi nam život bio siguran, nego samo zato što nam treba nešto čime bismo se toliko mogli zaokupiti da zaboravimo kako život i nije i ne može biti siguran.”

MankindLife And Living
Author:Lev Tolstoj
Create image

“One grave in every graveyard belongs to the ghouls. Wander any graveyard long enough and you will find it - water stained and bulging, with cracked or broken stone, scraggly grass or rank weeds about it, and a feeling, when you reach it, of abandonment. It may be colder than the other gravestones, too, and the name on the stone is all too often impossible to read. If there is a statue on the grave it will be headless or so scabbed with fungus and lichens as to look like fungus itself. If one grave in a graveyard looks like a target for petty vandals, that is the ghoul-gate. If the grave wants to make you be somewhere else, that is the ghoul-gate.”

DeathCemeteryGraveyard
Book:The Graveyard Book
Create image