Is imagination more important than knowledge?

Yes.

If you can't imagine nothing will change. Knowledge is just the stuff on which to base imagination. I am with Einstein on this one.

Both are equally important

Many people would find it hard to prioritize imagination over knowledge, or vice-versa. The ideal is a combination of the two. Most likely we would never have heard of Einstein or Nietzsche, for example, if they had had little knowledge or none at all. If we extend this to countries or entire communities which never had the benefit of education because of poverty and/or geographical isolation, we would see that creativity or achievements will rarely emerge. Not because their minds lack the power of imagination or the power to achieve, but because the conditions for those to emerge are not there.

I would say imagination trumps knowledge, but the two are inseparable. Knowledge deals with what's known. Imagination is what makes the unknown known.

Without the initial spark of imagination, knowledge cannot exist. Without forming an initial basis of knowledge, imagination is groundless.

Imagination is the active or "living" aspect of the mind. The fire and wind. Knowledge is the passive or inert aspect of the mind. The earth and water. Earth and water are illuminated by fire and wind.

Without the active elements, the passive elements are unable to progress. Without the passive elements, the active elements have no basis in reality.

The Mind builds Reality much like a creator, sculptor or craftsmen fashioning Knowledge in the constructive fire of Imagination.

Of course imagination is more important but not than knowledge. Without knowledge you cannot imagine. You need fundamental knowledge to improve your thoughts and develop your power of imagination. This power of imagination helps you to discover new things and later this becomes a knowledge to others.

Yes, Imagination allows you to think outside the box.

Imagination is more important than knowledge...but imagination+intelligence is the real key.

I personally don't like "choosing a winner" between two things like that - you immediately realize that both are important, how could you pick one and by implication abandon the other?

Imagination is necessary to make progress in science and thereby gain new knowledge. Nature doesn't tell us answers. We have to think them up ourselves, and test them by experiment. We can't find an answer if we can't imagine it, and we can't question what we think we know if we can't imagine alternatives.

That being said, if you don't have the knowledge, then imagination won't do you much good. It's easy for Einstein to say that his imagination helped him make discoveries which did not occur to other physicists at the time, but Einstein was not ignorant of the physics. He was extremely well educated, and already possessed the highest level of knowledge of physics at the time.

The knowledge has to precede the imagination. Science has to precede philosophy. Otherwise you will be unaware of what we already know to be true, and you will waste time imagining what we already know to be false.

I've spent a lot of time around people in the psychedelic community. They have the wildest imaginations of all. There is no belief so insane that they would not seriously consider it. But as the stereotype goes, they are often poorly educated in science, which means their imagination leads them into delusions. You just need to listen to Terence McKenna to know what I'm talking about. Or a conspiracy theorist such as Alex Jones.

I'll just provide the context for that Einstein quote. Here's an interview in 1929:

Einstein: “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am. When two expeditions of scientists, financed by the Royal Academy, went forth to test my theory of relativity, I was convinced that their conclusions would tally with my hypothesis. I was not surprised when the eclipse of May 29, 1919, confirmed my intuitions. I would have been surprised if I had been wrong.”

Interviewer: “Then you trust more to your imagination than to your knowledge?”

Einstein: “I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

And in his book published in 1931:

"At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. When the eclipse of 1919 confirmed my intuition, I was not in the least surprised. In fact, I would have been astonished had it turned out otherwise. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research."