Occam's razor

the simplest explanation or strategy tends to be the best one

Einstein supposedly remarked, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

While not technically contradicting the razor's notion that (other things being equal) "the simplest explanation is always the best", the reverse corollary — that the best explanation is not always the simplest — is well expressed by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character, Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of the Four, especially in the following famous quote: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

in reference to:

"While not technically contradicting the razor's notion that (other things being equal) "the simplest explanation is always the best", the reverse corollary — that the best explanation is not always the simplest — is well expressed by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character, Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of the Four, especially in the following famous quote: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.""
- Occam's razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (view on Google Sidewiki)