Q0356

Karl Popper

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.
Thinker Karl Popper
School Critical rationalism
Source Conjectures and Refutations
Theme Science
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Conjectures and Refutations, within the tradition of Critical rationalism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of science, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Karl Popper's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Karl Popper. (n.d.). Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0356

MLA: Karl Popper. “Science must begin with myths, and with the….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0356.

Chicago: Karl Popper. “Science must begin with myths, and with the….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0356.

Same thinker

More from Karl Popper

  1. We may become the makers of our fate when we have ceased to pose as its prophets.
  2. Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.
  3. It is easy to obtain confirmations…for nearly every theory—if we look for confirmations.
  4. We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.

All quotations by Karl Popper

Same theme

More on science

  1. We feel that even if all possible scientific questions are answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.
  2. Do not block the way of inquiry.
  3. It is easy to obtain confirmations…for nearly every theory—if we look for confirmations.
  4. Human knowledge and human power meet in one.

Browse the science theme