Karl Popper Quotes

My interest in political philosophy was rather casual until I met Hayek.

I read all of Ayn Rand's novels when I was 17.

I discovered philosophy in my youth when I read 'wildly,' and thus I was exposed to the world of ideas.

I also dreamt about finally meeting the leftist Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. He is a great role model for me.

Hayek, in my view, is the leading economic thinker of the 20th century.

Truth travels down from the heights of philosophy to the humblest walks of life, and up from the simplest perceptions of an awakened intellect to the discoveries which almost change the face of the world. At every stage of its progress it is genial, luminous, creative.

Through books you will meet poets and novelists whose creations will fire your imagination. You will meet the great thinkers who will share with you their philosophies, their concepts of the world, of humanity and of creation. You will learn about events that have shaped our history, of deeds both noble and ignoble. All of this knowledge is yours for the taking… Your library is a storehouse for mind and spirit. Use it well.

I am a philosopher, not a scientist, and we philosophers are better at questions than answers.

People are not embracing collectivism because they have accepted bad economics. They are accepting bad economics because they have embraced collectivism.

Intellectualism' is the belief that our mind comes upon a world complete in itself, and has the duty of ascertaining its contents; but has no power of re-determining its character, for that is already given.

A great scholar is seldom a great philosopher.

Ideas come from everything

If Ayn Rand were an up-and-coming author today, she wouldn't write about steel or railroads, it would be Net Neutrality.

Philosophy is true mother of the arts [of science].

A great thing is a great book; but a greater thing than all is the talk of a great man.

And when you look at the twentieth-century experiment with collectivism-that Ayn Rand, more than anybody else, did such a good job of articulating the pitfalls of statism and collectivism-you can't find another thinker or writer who did a better job of describing and laying out the moral case for capitalism than Ayn Rand.

Reading a book by someone you respect allows some of their brilliance to rub off on you.

Of all that writ, he was the wisest bard, who spoke this mighty truth- He that knew all that ever learning writ, Knew only this-that he knew nothing yet.

A society without intellectuals is like a body without a head

The crude real will not by itself yield truth.

I've learned mainly by reading myself. So I don't think I have any original ideas. Certainly, I talk about reading Graham. I've read Phil Fisher. So I've gotten a lot of my ideas from reading. You can learn a lot from other people. In fact, I think if you learn basically from other people, you don't have to get too many new ideas on your own. You can just apply the best of what you see.

Science as such assuredly has no authority, for she can only say what is, not what is not.

Ayn Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.

Friedrich Hayek is not an important figure in the history of macroeconomics.