If you don’t ask “why this?” often enough, somebody will ask “why you?”

—Tom Hirshfield

I learned, when hit by loss, to ask the right question: “What next?” instead of “Why me?” . . . Whenever I am willing to ask “What is necessary next?” I have moved ahead. Whenever I have taken No for a final answer I have stalled and gotten stuck.

—Julia Cameron

The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions.

—Susan Sontag

An answer is always a form of death.

—John Fowles

There aren’t any embarrassing questions — just embarrassing answers.

—Carl Rowen

The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions.

—Antony Jay

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

— Naguib Mahfouz

We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.

—Lloyd Alexander

Children ask better questions than adults. “May I have a cookie?” “Why is the sky blue?” and “What does a cow say?” are far more likely to elicit a cheerful response than “Where’s your manuscript?” “Why haven’t you called?” and “Who’s your lawyer?”

—Fran Lebowitz

The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.

—Alice Wellington Rollins

Questions show the mind’s range, and answers its subtlety.

—Joseph Joubert

The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.

—Ursula K. LeGuin

When we have arrived at the question, the answer is already near.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.

—Susanne K. Langer