"The theoretical idea ... does not arise..." - Quote by Albert Einstein
The theoretical idea ... does not arise apart from and independent of experience; nor can it be derived from experience by a purely logical procedure. It is produced by a creative act. Once a theoretical idea has been acquired, one does well to hold fast to it until it leads to an untenable conclusion.
More by Albert Einstein
“... knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. It resembles a statue of marble which stands in the desert and is continually threatened with burial by the shifting sand. The hands of service must ever be at work, in order that the marble continue to lastingly shine in the sun. To these serving hands mine shall also belong.”
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
“Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.”
More on Theory
“No political party can possibly lead a great revolutionary movement to victory unless it possesses revolutionary theory and knowledge of history and has a profound grasp of the practical movement.”
“All social life is essentially practical. All mysterious which lead theory to mysticism find their rational solution in human practice and in the comprehension of the practice.”
“The field of experience is the whole universe in all directions. Theory remains shut up within the limits of human faculties.”