There is nothing so practical as a good theory. — Kurt Lewin
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. — Albert Einstein
Even for practical purposes theory generally turns out the most important thing in the end. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. — Yogi Berra
It is theory that decides what can be observed. — Albert Einstein
The purely abstract theorist runs the risk that, as with modern decor, the furniture of the mind will be sparse, bare, and uncomfortable. — Robert K. Merton
For real people, if something works in theory, but not in practice, it doesn't work. For academics, if something works in practice, but not in theory, it doesn't exist. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. — Robert A. Heinlein
Every mathematical theory is held inside a physical substrate of a brain or a computer. You’re always bound by the laws of physics, and these pure, abstract domains may have no mappings to reality. — Naval Ravikant
Each department of knowledge passes through three stages. The theoretic stage; the theological stage and the metaphysical or abstract stage. — Auguste Comte
Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play. — Immanuel Kant
Thus not only the mental and the material, but the theoretical and the practical in the mathematical world, are brought into more intimate and effective connection with each other. — Ada Lovelace
The best theories come from your imagination, not extrapolation. — Naval Ravikant
Short Theoretical Quotes
Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty — Dominic Lawson
I think it's almost definite that the game is a draw theoretically. — Bobby Fischer
Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible. — William James
I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy. — Max Born
My linguistics is pretty theoretical. — Noam Chomsky
What happened on September 11th is at least, theoretically, small stuff compared to what can happen. — Robert D. Kaplan
In Fischer's hands, a slight theoretical advantage is as good a being a Queen ahead — Isaac Kashdan
Whenever anyone says, 'theoretically', they really mean, 'not really'. — David Parnas
On the theoretical side, I was concerned with stochastic resonance. — Richard Ernst
For in the theoretical field bourgeois economics no longer engages in blithe and joyous fights. — Rudolf Hilferding
Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.
Theoretical Physicists Quotes
Theoretical physicists live in a classical world, looking out into a quantum-mechanical world. The latter we describe only subjectively, in terms of procedures and results in our classical domain. — John Stewart Bell
The career of a young theoretical physicist consists of treating the harmonic oscillator in ever-increasing levels of abstraction. — Sidney Coleman
If the experimental physicist has already done a great deal of work in this field, nevertheless the theoretical physicist has still hardly begun to evaluate the experimental material which may lead him to conclusions about the structure of the atom. — Johannes Stark
Theoretical physicists accept the need for mathematical beauty as an act of faith... For example, the main reason why the theory of relativity is so universally accepted is its mathematical beauty. — Paul Dirac
Mediocre theoretical physicists make no progress. They spend all their time understanding other people's progress. — Jeff Bezos
As a theoretical physicist, I feel at once proud and humble at the thought of the illustrious figures that have preceded me here to receive the greatest of all honors in science, the Nobel prize. — Murray Gell-Mann
[T]he shaman treats all realities as subjective, much like some modern theoretical physicists are beginning to do. In such a viewpoint the question of whether an experience is real or not makes no sense, because the answer is yes and no, depending on your point of view. — Serge King
There are theoretical physicists who imagine, deduce, and guess at new laws, but do not experiment; and then there are experimental physicists who experiment, imagine, deduce, and guess. — Richard P. Feynman
Although almost every theoretical physicist agrees with my prediction that a black hole should glow like a hot body, it would be very difficult to verify experimentally because the temperature of a macroscopic black hole is so low. — Stephen Hawking
The job of a theoretical physicist is to make mistakes as fast as possible . — John Archibald Wheeler
Theoretical Understanding Quotes
Contrary to the legend, Darwin's finches do not appear to have inspired his earliest theoretical views on evolution, even after he finally became an evolutionist in 1837; rather it was his evolutionary views that allowed him, retrospectively, to understand the complex case of the finches. — Frank Sulloway
The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilised men. — Bertrand Russell
The earlier, more analytic impulse was to use very rational but kind of absurd techniques or tendencies—mapping, charting, and architecture—to try and make sense of who I was in my time and space and political environment. But there’s only so much truth to a theoretical understanding of something. — Julie Mehretu
If you really want to contribute to our theoretical understanding of physical laws - and it is an exciting experience if you succeed! - there are many things you need to know. First of all, be serious about it! — Gerard 't Hooft
Since the beginning of physics, symmetry considerations have provided us with an extremely powerful and useful tool in our effort to understand nature. Gradually they have become the backbone of our theoretical formulation of physical laws. — Tsung-Dao Lee
The EU Kids Online project is the most theoretically informed and methodologically sophisticated study we have on the issue of risks in the new electronic environment. This book is rich in details and insights that greatly advance our understanding. — David Finkelhor
I have an interest in architecture, although more theoretically than anything else. I think architecture tries to understand what the body wants to occupy, not the body itself. — Hussein Chalayan
The actors make the film. They're the ones that take this theoretical movie that's in your head and make it real. The success of a film is entirely on their shoulders. I admire them, because acting is such a difficult thing to do, and I personally can't understand it. — Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Earlier, if you had a piece of technology, anyone could theoretically take it apart and put it back together again, and understand how it works. Some people would do that with the technology that they owned. It's not as easy to do that today. Most users wouldn't even think to do anything like that. — Charlie Jane Anders
Theology is faith seeking understanding, but understanding is more than theoretical. If we really grasp who and where we are as disciples, we should know how to live out our faith. — Kevin Vanhoozer
Theory Quotes
Reality is, after all, too big for our frail understanding to fully comprehend. Nevertheless, we have to build our life on the theory which contains the maximum truth.We cannot sit still because we cannot, or do not , know the Absolute Truth. — Subhas Chandra Bose
Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. — Benito Mussolini
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. — Albert Einstein
Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve. — Karl Popper
Each person is a unique individual. Hence, psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the uniqueness of the individual's needs, rather than tailoring the person to fit the Procrustean bed of a hypothetical theory of human behavior. — Milton H. Erickson
The dirty alliance between religious preachers and possessors of power brought the boon of prisons, gallows, knouts and above all such theories for the mankind. — Bhagat Singh
In string theory, all particles are vibrations on a tiny rubber band; physics is the harmonies on the string; chemistry is the melodies we play on vibrating strings; the universe is a symphony of strings, and the "Mind of God" is cosmic music resonating in 11 dimensional hyperspace. — Michio Kaku
Before going back to college, i knew i didn't want to be an intellectual, spending my life in books and libraries without knowing what the hell is going on in the streets. Theory without practice is just as incomplete as practice without theory. The two have to go together. — Assata Shakur
The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. — J. Edgar Hoover
How To Find The Meaning Of A Quotes
How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it. So I have a little word: follow your bliss. The bliss is the message of God to yourself. That's where your life is. — Joseph Campbell
How much do people really want to learn? I mean, some people get into a groove and they stay with it indefinitely. And what starts off as a great moment of explosive passion can end up as cabaret 25, 30 years later. It just depends on whether you go and find the right habitat to extend yourself. — Robert Plant
Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself. But mankind wasn't always so lucky. Less than a century ago, men and women did not have easy access to the puzzle boxes within them. — Kurt Vonnegut
There's still value in a CD, even if it's just nostalgic. People are still willing to pay. But it can't compare to a digital-only release where you can control the exact time that it'll come out, you know what I mean? So whoever finds how to bridge that gap is gonna make a lot of money. — J. Cole
A good means to discovery is to take away certain parts of a system to find out how the rest behaves. — Georg C. Lichtenberg
Theoretical Physics Quotes
It is odd, but on the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducer never seems to find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics. — Richard P. Feynman
In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..." — Carl Sagan
The only object of theoretical physics is to calculate results that can be compared with experiment... it is quite unnecessary that any satisfactory description of the whole course of the phenomena should be given. — Paul Dirac
The methods of theoretical physics should be applicable to all those branches of thought in which the essential features are expressible with numbers. — Paul Dirac
If the aim of physical theories is to explain experimental laws, theoretical physics is not an autonomous science; it is subordinate to metaphysics. — Pierre Duhem
Mental illness, of course, is not literally a "thing" - or physical object - and hence it can "exist" only in the same sort of way in which other theoretical concepts exist. — Thomas Szasz
All theoretical chemistry is really physics; and all theoretical chemists know it. — Richard P. Feynman
That's what doing theoretical physics is like: there are a lot of wipeouts. — Garrett Lisi
I've always really been into science, and in the last five years I've gotten into theoretical physics and the origins of the universe. — Adam Pascal
It was at this moment that I wrote my first important paper in theoretical physics. I was 32 years old, 5 years beyond the alleged age of senility for theorists. — Robert B. Laughlin
Long experience has taught me not always to believe in the limitations indicated by purely theoretical considerations. These, as we well know, are based on insufficient knowledge of all the relevant factors. — Guglielmo Marconi
German Nazism could not have succeeded in establishing itself except as a result of the theoretical contributions of Fichte, Goethe and Nietzsche, coupled with the ingenious and mighty leadership of Hitler and his comrades. — Abul A'la Maududi
Decision-theoretic means you assume there’s proportionality between the universes’ way of splitting things up. So if you’re rolling two different dice, then the universes proportion themselves into measures. — Naval Ravikant
It is necessary to clean up the Central Bank's interest-bearing liabilities, thus putting an end to money-printing and with it, the only empirically true and theoretically valid cause of inflation. — Javier Milei
You could imagine something like a completely automated system for renting bikes that's just done completely over blockchain crypto-payments. And theoretically just sort of start it up, and it works completely autonomously. — Vitalik Buterin
The step between practical and theoretic science, is the step between the miner and the geologist, the apocathecary and the chemist. — John Ruskin
I suggest that Black feminist thought consists of specialised knowledge created by African-American women which clarifies a standpoint of and for Black women. In other words, Black feminist thought encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women's reality by those who live it. — Patricia Hill Collins
Post-structuralism is among other things a kind of theoretical hangover from the failed uprising of ‘68, a way of keeping the revolution warm at the level of language, blending the euphoric libertarianism of that moment with the stoical melancholia of its aftermath. — Terry Eagleton
If you find that you're spending almost all your time on theory, start turning some attention to practical things; it will improve your theories. If you find that you're spending almost all your time on practice, start turning some attention to theoretical things; it will improve your practice. — Donald Knuth
Philosophers of science have repeatedly demonstrated that more than one theoretical construction can always be placed upon a given collection of data. — Thomas Kuhn
Mankind may amuse themselves with theoretic systems of liberty... but we can only discern its true value by the practical and wretched effects of slavery. — Mercy Otis Warren
The fear of speculation, the ostensible rush from the theoretical to the practical, brings about the same shallowness in action that it does in knowledge. It is by studying a strictly theoretical philosophy that we become most acquainted with Ideas, and only Ideas provide action with vigour and ethical meaning. — Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
The problem of peaceful transition to socialism, we do not discuss it as a theoretical question. But in America it is very difficult, and it is nearly impossible. That is why specifically in America we say that the road to the liberation of peoples, which will be the road of socialism will go through bullets in almost all countries. — Che Guevara
Where is everybody? Humans could theoretically colonize the galaxy in a million years or so, and if they could, astronauts from older civilizations could do the same. So why haven't they come to Earth? — Enrico Fermi
There is not some glorious theoretical synthesis of capitalism that you can write down in a book and follow. You have to grope your way — Robert Solow
I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to everybody else and nobody can get punished for it. That can only happen without hierarchy and without people having the authority to punish other people. — Robert Anton Wilson
The theoretical side of physical chemistry is and will probably remain the dominant one; it is by this peculiarity that it has exerted such a great influence upon the neighboring sciences, pure and applied, and on this ground physical chemistry may be regarded as an excellent school of exact reasoning for all students of the natural sciences. — Svante Arrhenius
For me, playwriting is and has always been like making a chair. Your concerns are balance, form, timing, lights, space, music. If you don't have these essentials, you might as well be writing a theoretical essay, not a play. — Sam Shepard
In my own view, some advice about what should be known, about what technical education should be acquired, about the intense motivation needed to succeed, and about the carelessness and inclination toward bias that must be avoided is far more useful than all the rules and warnings of theoretical logic. — Santiago Ramon y Cajal
The theoretically unrestricted right to develop power, to wage war against other states, is antisocial and is doubly dangerous, because the state as a mass entity represents a low moral and intellectual level. — Christian Lous Lange
The work is what it is and hopefully it's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical bullshit about feminist stuff. — Cindy Sherman
That which Steinitz gave to the theoretical aspect of the game when he was at his best is very remote to all out home-bred chess philosophers, but with his views on Morphy, whom he tries to discredit completely, it is of course impossible to agree. — Alexander Alekhine
The discipline of economics has yet to get over its childish passion for mathematics and for purely theoretical and often highly ideological speculation, at the expense of historical research and collaboration with the other social sciences. — Thomas Piketty
I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music. — John Coltrane
In Marseilles they make half the toilet soap we consume in America, but the Marseillaise only have a vague theoretical idea of its use, which they have obtained from books of travel. — Mark Twain
I think the brain is essentially a computer and consciousness is like a computer program. It will cease to run when the computer is turned off. Theoretically, it could be re-created on a neural network, but that would be very difficult, as it would require all one's memories. — Stephen Hawking
I need scarcely say that the beginning and maintenance of life on earth is absolutely and infinitely beyond the range of all sound speculation in dynamical science. The only contribution of dynamics to theoretical biology is absolute negation of automatic commencement or automatic maintenance of life. — Lord Kelvin
The teaching of the church, theoretically astute, is a lie in practice and a compound of vulgar superstitions and sorcery. — Leo Tolstoy
One of the goals of philosophy is wage theoretical battle. That is why we can say that every thesis is always, by its very nature, an antithesis. A thesis is only ever put forward in opposition to another thesis, or in defence of a new one. — Louis Althusser
Page after page of professional economic journals are filled with mathematical formulas leading the reader from sets of more or less plausible but entirely arbitrary assumptions to precisely stated but irrelevant theoretical conclusions. — Wassily Leontief
They [free market policies] were never based on solid empirical and theoretical foundations, and even as many of these policies were being pushed, academic economists were explaining the limitations of markets for instance, whenever information is imperfect, which is to say always. — Joseph Stiglitz
Om Schooled is the perfect manual for anyone who wants to start teaching yoga to kids. This is not just a theoretical book—it is a step-by-step manual. Sarah Herrington shares the wisdom she has gained from her day-to-day experiences, for many years, teaching all ages of children yoga in the New York School system. — Sharon Gannon
About 1960, it became clear that it was best for me to bring the experimental part of my research program to a close - there was too much to do on the theoretical aspects - and I began the process of winding down the experiments. — Rudolph A. Marcus
Although they can do it all the time, you know, they're far better than me, on a musically, on a theoretical music level. You know, they're out of my league. — Eric Clapton
Working in theoretical systems can take away the juice. It can also be very beautiful, but when you're trying to satisfy a theoretical principle rather than a sonic reality, then it can become dry. — Pauline Oliveros
We read many books, but that does not bring us knowledge. We may read all the Bibles in the world, but that will not give us religion. Theoretical religion is easy enough to get, any one may get that. What we want is practical religion. — Swami Vivekananda
In Conclusion
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