The influence (for good or ill) of Plato's work is immeasurable. Western thought, one might say, has been Platonic or anti-Platonic, but hardly ever non-Platonic.
Interpretation
Plato's philosophical ideas have significantly shaped Western thought, either by supporting or opposing his concepts.
This quote by Karl Popper emphasizes the profound and enduring impact of Plato's philosophical contributions on Western intellectual history. Popper suggests that almost all subsequent thought can be seen as either an embrace of Plato's ideas or a reaction against them, indicating that it's nearly impossible to escape his influence in philosophical discussions.
In practice
In a lecture on the history of philosophy, one might say, 'As Karl Popper pointed out, the influence of Plato's work is immeasurable.'
The growth of our knowledge is the result of a process closely resembling what Darwin called 'natural selection'; that is, the natural selection of hypotheses: our knowledge consists, at every moment, of those hypotheses which have shown their (comparative) fitness by surviving so far in their struggle for existence, a competitive struggle which eliminates those hypotheses which are unfit.
If you can't say it simply and clearly, keep quiet, and keep working on it till you can.
No particular theory may ever be regarded as absolutely certain.... No scientific theory is sacrosanct.
The belief in a political Utopia is especially dangerous. This is possibly connected with the fact that the search for a better world, like the investigation of our environment, is (if I am correct) one of the oldest and most important of all the instincts.
A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others - not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the ideas of others
Thus science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths; neither with the collection of observations, nor with the invention of experiments, but with the critical discussion of myths, and of magical techniques and practices.
One of the reasons inequality gets so deep in this country is that everyone wants to be rich. That's the American ideal. Poor people don't like talking about poverty because even though they might live in the projects surrounded by other poor people and have, like, ten dollars in the bank, they don't like to think of themselves as poor.
The shadow escapes from the body like an animal we had been sheltering.
I am Shiva-this is the great meditation of the yogis in the Himalayas...Hea ven and hell are within us, and all the gods are within us. This is the great realization of the Upanishads of India in the ninth century B.C. All the gods, all the heavens, all the worlds, are within us. They are magnified dreams, and dreams are manifestations in image form of the energies of the body in conflict with each other.
Two may talk and one may hear, but three cannot take part in a conversation of the most sincere and searching sort.
There is no worse sickness for the soul, o you who are proud, than this pretense of perfection.
The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards
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