Quotes About Theory

A little experience often upsets a lot of theory.

Evolution is a theory with more holes than a Dutch dam of swiss cheese.

Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (New York: Bantam, 1988), p. 122.

We continually forget that the sphere of morals is the sphere of action, that speculation in regard to morality is but observation and must remain in the sphere of intellectual comment, that a situation does not really become moral until we are confronted with the question of what shall be done in a concrete case, and are obliged to act upon our theory.

It was assumed that genre films could not have any artistic merit, because the were not original works and because they were not authored works. These standards of evaluation are based upon a romantic theory of art that places the highest value on the concepts of originality, person creativity, and the idea of individual artist as genius.

and for Stephen, who carried all his theories in his head, fine detail was a hindrance to clarity of thought.

Don't be naive, though. As great as it sounds in theory, many people really don't like journeys without a final destination.

The theory of the free press is not that the truth will be presented completely or perfectly in any one instance, but that the truth will emerge from free discussion

Leo Crowley, Harry [Truman]'s Foreign Economic Administrator, tells Congressmen the theory...: 'If you create good governments in foreign countries, automatically you will have better markets for ourselves.' With that honeycunt staring you in the face, you'd forget your grammar too.

So that individuation may be compared to a pyramid in that it is only achieved by the placement of the top stone… The Jews, Ford said. They ain't like anyone else I know. There goes you theory up shits creek. He smiled.

Not only in probability theory, but in all mathematics, it is the careless use of infinite sets, and of infinite and infinitesimal quantities, that generates most paradoxes.

Once you have a theory, it's not too hard to find evidence to substantiate it, at least until some other theory comes along.

I did it on a wing and a prayer, and even though I didn't have enough confidence to do the show, I had a theory; if I assume I have the confidence, I'll tell everyone I'm doing it, and then people will come and we'll actually do it. Once we've done it, I'll have the confidence to do it again. It was some sort of weird positive-thinking confidence mantra because I had to get there.

Fundamental analysis often works, but it often fails. Technical analysis often works, and then it does not work. Economists speak of economic cycles, but none can be found analytically. Traders speak of market cycles; they too cannot be proven. To top it off, the critics of the EMH have been unable to offer an alternative that takes all the discrepancies into account. In few other areas are theory and practical experience in such little agreement.

In old establishments various correctives have been found for their aberrations from theory. Indeed, they are the results of various necessities and expediencies. They are not constructed after any theory; theories are rather drawn from them.

Another pioneer of the scientific revolution, Johannes Kepler, was the first to couch an earnest scientific argument – a representation of the Copernican theory of the solar system – as a visionary fantasy. His Somnium (A Dream, 1634) also includes an ingenious attempt to imagine how life on the moon might have adapted to the long cycle of day and night.

information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing leadership on information theory disempowers leaders and is part of the bias toward data that was discussed earlier in this chapter. Impact, to the contrary, is about emotional process.

I sometimes ask myself how it came about that I was the one to develop the theory of relativity. The reason, I think, is that a normal adult never stops to think about problems of space and time. These are things which he has thought about as a child.

If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.

A theory can be proved by experiment but no path leads from experiment to the birth of a theory.

Emc (Energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light.) Original statement If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminshes by Lc.

Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us closer to the secret of the 'Old One.' I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice.

Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.

Men and women are not free to love decently until they have analyzed themselves completely and swept away every mystery from sex; and this means the acquisition of a profound philosophical theory based on wide reading of anthropology and enlightened practice.