Albert Einstein quote
From Wikiversity
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."
-Albert Einstein, What Life Means to Einstein (1929)
[edit] Context
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."
-Albert Einstein As quoted in "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck" in The Saturday Evening Post (26 October 1929) [1]
[edit] Discuss
Perhaps imagination is the basis for all knowledge due to the fact that any kind of invention or theory is either created or purposed as a result of an idea formatted from imagination. Thus proving that knowledge is just as infinite and important as imagination.
I'd disagree, even the most imaginative person is nothing without knowledge, while someone with great knowledge can still make contributions without imagination.
You make a good point, yet I feel that only pertains to math and sciences and other forms of "one sided" subjects. Not saying that they aren't a difficult concept that requires both knowledge and imagination but they are much more set in their ways. Where as in the arts, one with knowledge can create things based off of the past when one with imagination can create original work rather than replicas of the past. I feel they have some what of a Ying-Yang relation. For instance, math and music can go hand in hand in some cases, just as imagination and knowledge can.
Knowledge is simply a reference to what was accomplished due to past acts of imagination. Therefor, it is inferior to imagination in that respect. It is true that someone can contribute without imagination, but none of those contributions can possibly spawn new sources of knowledge. One can teach and pass down previous knowledge without imagination, but only through imagination can new knowledge be created, making knowledge dependent upon imagination and ultimately inferior. But it is very true that knowledge can be an aid to imagination.
I agree, in the sense that knowledge is dependent upon imagination but I feel that neither is superior, due to the fact that after imagination creates something new, it becomes knowledge. Thus proving that even imagination is dependent upon knowledge; mainly to allow the imagination process to be completed and to become of use.
I disagree. I believe that imagination doesn't become knowledge, but instead creates knowledge. The imagination still remains after the knowledge is created, and it goes on to create even more knowledge. Imagination is the mother, and knowledge is the child.
