Dustin Stout

Social Media, Blogging, and Design Resources

Albert Einstein On Imagination Vs Knowledge

imagination vs knowledge

I came across this quote from Albert Einstein, and it really inspired me.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” –Albert Einstein

It made me wonder if I am letting my knowledge (or desire for knowledge) stifle my imagination, and therefore inhibit my creativity? I definitely don’t want that to happen. So as a reminder to myself I created a graphic that might make a cool poster some day:

albert einstein imagination vs knowledge

I came across this quote while reading an article on Creativity Post about creative thinking. This really got my creative juices going. I highly recommend reading it, and bookmarking it.

It was really powerful for me, so I thought I’d share it here. I hope it inspires and provokes you to go out and create something. Forget what you know, and dream bigger.

Categories:
Dustin W. Stout Avatar

About the author

Dustin W. Stout
A social media blogger and speaker who loves helping people tell bigger, better stories online. Founder of SoVisual.co, and an unashamed coffee addict.

23 responses to “Albert Einstein On Imagination Vs Knowledge”

  1. Umar Jamil Avatar
    Umar Jamil

    Man you are the best! I have been reading your posts from last 2 days! I concluded that you are the best in your work! I mean you are creative, then you are web and graphic designer too plus you know the game called social media! You know how the things work! Cool man! Let the dice roll with some new and creative posts 🙂 Goodluck

  2. Dustin W. Stout Avatar
    Dustin W. Stout

    Oh, I love that Araz! I’ll have to do some more investigation of DaVinci now! Thanks!

  3. Araz Avatar
    Araz

    Another person with a great imagination was Leonardo Da Vinci, how he got his ideas really, I can say only by imagination.In fact, imagination fills in gaps between unrelated subjects to create new idea.Definitely, imagination creates innovation.

  4. Rachelfred Avatar
    Rachelfred

    Beautiful

  5. David Willard Jr Avatar
    David Willard Jr

    I think knowledge and imagination work hand in hand. The most creative people will often be very intelligent as well. I hard to think of people being very imaginative with a limited knowledge base. 🙂

  6. Brandon Avatar
    Brandon

    Good one!

  7. Brandon Avatar
    Brandon

    Yeah. Walt Disney was very creative. Look at his impact!

  8. Brandon Avatar
    Brandon

    Great quote!

  9. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    Yes! I love Walt Disneys story! Thanks Dan!

  10. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    I think the key takeaway isnt that knowledge is bad, but imagination must not be limited by what we know. You make a great point though Louis!

  11. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    I totally agree Marcus. It almost goes hand in hand with another one of Einsteins well known sayings, You cant solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.

  12. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    Amen to that!

  13. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    Uh… I had no idea you were a poet! Lol

  14. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    Word. Lol

  15. Dan Black Avatar
    Dan Black

    This is such a great quote. Another example of a person with a great imagination was Walt Disney. His dreams and imagination left a lasting impact. Great post.

  16. Louis Tullo Avatar
    Louis Tullo

    I actually meant to say *disagree. 😉

  17. Louis Tullo Avatar
    Louis Tullo

    I would actually agree with Einstein. I see your point about how sometimes it seems the pursuit of knowledge can stifle creativity, but to me it’s knowledge that enables creativity. When you think of any type of creative product, whether is writing, music, theatre, visual arts, film, etc. there is a certain skill set that underpins their quality. That skill set is developed through knowledge, which can come in a variety of different ways (schooling, apprenticeship, experience, etc.) In any case, knowledge is the foundation of creativity in my opinion. It’s what we do with our knowledge that is the substance of creativity, as opposed to just regurgitating what we’ve discovered.

  18. Marcus Avatar
    Marcus

    That was an interesting article. I think it can relate to all aspects of life. It’s important to learn to look beyond the current circumstances affecting ones life. If not, you hinder the possibilities.

  19. chris vonada Avatar
    chris vonada

    Dream Big as Big Dreams are Always worthwhile!

  20. Loren Pinilis Avatar
    Loren Pinilis

    Good quote. To me, it’s more than just dreaming big. It’s more than just setting my sights high. It’s coming up with creative paths to get there. That is often where the true imagination lies.

  21. Valerie Deveza Avatar
    Valerie Deveza

    Imaginations give you more inspirations to work more and do your best to make it real..

  22. DustinWStout Avatar
    DustinWStout

    Thanks Roger! I think I found my new MO. lol

    BTW where’s your gravatar?

  23. Roger Pittman Avatar
    Roger Pittman

    “Forget what you know, and dream bigger.”

    Definitely words to live by!

Leave a Reply