Is there more evidence to support Einstein’s soundbite that “imagination is more important than knowledge”or work against it?

After reading Is Imagination More Important that Knowledge by Dr. Kathleen Taylor, where she takes a soundbite from an interview with Einstein in which he says, "I'm enough of an artist to draw freely on my imagination, which I think is more important than knowledge;" and discussing the relationship between knowledge and imagination in class, I have come to wonder about the popular thought on the subject. Do most think imagination is more important or that knowledge is the more necessary of the two. After perusing the depths of the internet, I have come to the conclusion that there is no clear answer in which is more important. It seems that neither imagination nor knowledge is the clear winner in which is more important. A lot of what I read linked knowledge and imagination together; saying that one influences the other like: "knowledge is a prerequisite of imagination, however imagination is a catalyst for greater knowledge," "imagination revolutionizes knowledge," and "knowledge is the foundation of imagination. Imagination is the source of knowledge."
There were many opinions leaning one way or the other as well. In favor of imagination I found: "imagination because it enables the mind to arrange random, scattered bits of knowledge into entirely new forms that in their fresh composition inspire the 'ah-hah's' side-way's glance of inspiration." I also found a link to knowledge that favored imagination, "I say imagination, because if you didn't have imagination, nobody would be different. Nobody would see the world differently, everybody would be the same. Because they don't have imagination, to think differently. To which case, nobody would have true knowledge." In favor of knowledge there were things like, "the fact that we are seeking knowledge clearly shows knowledge is more important. Imagination is just the mean" and also "I think knowledge is more important than imagination. Without knowledge there is nothing to imagine;" both, again, commenting on the link between knowledge and imagination.
In the end, it seems that neither is actually more important than the other, they are equally as important for understanding the world around us. It seems impossible to have one without the other; one to escape and one to rein you back in before you get too carried away.









All quotes are from these two sites
http://forums.philosophyforums.com/threads/is-imagination-really-more-important-than-knowledge-36258.html

http://www.squidoo.com/albert-einstein-quote