There is a gulf between the high value Americans put on life in theory and its cheapness in practice.

My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it

An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.

In theory this is useful but in practice I would not expect more than changes at the margin.

The technical challenges were solved in theory but not in practice.

My first practice, having to face (all-Americans) John Walker and Jim Wagner, I was like 'Wow' ... that was a huge shock to me. Day-by-day you get a little quicker and the big thing (you learn) is people shoot from anywhere. Within a couple weeks I felt I was caught up to the level of speed.