I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.

beware of ideas...

An idea is like a virus. Resilient. Highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define...or destroy you.

Ideas are cheap — what counts is the ability to translate an idea into reality, which is much more difficult than recognizing a good idea.

Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realisation. I've had what I thought were great ideas that just didn't work. Sometimes it's difficult to say if something has worked or not. Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.

The best of ideas is hurt by uncritical acceptance and thrives on critical examination

I was left with a great idea gutted by critical examination. But that's good. That's how we make ideas better—by trying to poke holes in them and then finding ways to fix the holes.

The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief. And by dangerous I don't mean thought-provoking. I mean: might get people killed.

[I]s this not an advantage? Is it not a sign of immense progress that the masses should have "ideas," that is to say, should be cultured? By no means. The "ideas" of the average man are not genuine ideas, nor is their possession culture. An idea is a putting truth in checkmate. Whoever wishes to have ideas must first prepare himself to desire truth and to accept the rules of the game imposed by it. It is no use speaking of ideas when there is no acceptance of a higher authority to regulate them, a series of standards to which it is possible to appeal in a discussion. These standards are the principles on which culture rests.

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” — Oscar Wilde, writer and poet

Caution and investigation are a necessary armor against error and imposition.

The more supernatural and sublime the ideas, the ruder is their collision with reality and the more allowance must made for the feebleness of man.

Quite often, when an idea that could be helpful presents itself, we do not appreciate it, for it is so inconspicuous. The expert has, perhaps, no more ideas than the inexperienced, but appreciates more what he has and uses it better.

The real point of honor [for a scientist] is not to be always right. It is to dare to propose new ideas, and then to check them.