Quotes About Theory

Einstein's relativity work is a magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king... its exponents are brilliant men but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.

There is scarcely a subject that cannot be mathematically treated and the effects calculated or the results determined beforehand from the available theoretical and practical data.

If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor.

human energy is measured by half the product of man's mass with the square of a certain hypothetical velocity. However

The only debatable issue, it seems to me, is whether it is more ridiculous to turn to experts in social theory for general well-confirmed propositions, or to the specialists in the great religions and philosophical systems for insights into fundamental human values.

Just war theory has been converted into a form of apologetics for whatever atrocities your favored state is carrying out.

essential differences between generative grammar and structural linguistics.

Syntactic Structures and LSLT.

If a concept or principle finds its place in an explanatory theory, it cannot be excluded on methodological grounds.

And this, of course, is the central problem with conspiracy theorists — once you inflexibly accept that something is a conspiracy, any contrary evidence has the paradoxical effect of making your case stronger. Every contradiction deepens the conspiracy.

What you don't learn in art theory is how too big a compliment can hurt more than a slap to the face.

Katherine's theory is that everyone looking to make a new life migrates west, across America to the Pacific Ocean. Once there, the cheapest city where they can live is Portland. This gives us the most cracked of the crackpots. The misfits among misfits. "We just accumulate more and more strange people," she says. "All we are are the fugitives and refugees.

Honestly, you ask me, I think it's aliens," she said, fast putting an end to her moment as the voice of sanity.

The theory of motivation suggests you need to ask yourself a different set of questions than most of us are used to asking. Is this work meaningful to me? Is this job going to give me a chance to develop? Am I going to learn new things? Will I have an opportunity for recognition and achievement? Am I going to be given responsibility? These are the things that will truly motivate you. Once you get this right, the more measurable aspects of your job will fade in importance.

A good theory doesn't change its mind: it doesn't apply only to some companies or people, and not to others. It is a general statement of what causes what, and why.

If you get motivators at work, Herzberg's theory suggests, you're going to love your job—even if you're not making piles of money. You're going to be motivated.

Indeed, while experiences and information can be good teachers, there are many times in life where we simply cannot afford to learn on the job. You don't want to have to go through multiple marriages to learn how to be a good spouse. Or wait until your last child has grown to master parenthood. This is why theory can be so valuable: it can explain what will happen, even before you experience

But just as was true in understanding flight, problems in our lives don't always map neatly to theories on a one-to-one basis.

You'll see that without theory, we're at sea without a sextant.

The theory of good money, bad money explains that the clock of building a fulfilling relationship is ticking from the start. If you don't nurture and develop those relationships, they won't be there to support you if you find yourself traversing some of the more challenging stretches of life, or as one of the most important sources of happiness in your life.

If we can't see beyond what's close by, we're relying on chance—on the currents of life—to guide us. Good theory helps people steer to good decisions—not just in business, but in life, too.

That's a hallmark of good theory: it dispenses its advice in "if-then" statements.

This is why theory can be so valuable: it can explain what will happen, even before you experience it.

To succeed predictably, disruptors must be good theorists. As they shape their growth business to be disruptive, they must align every critical process and decision to fit the disruptive circumstance.