Smart Questions

“One who never asks either knows everything or nothing.”
-Malcom Forbes

“No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.”
-Charles P. Steinmetz

The main reason questions are so effective is that most people love to answer them. Questions stimulate the mind and offer people an opportunity to use their brains constructively. One of the axioms of human communication is that most people prefer talking to listening. When you ask for someone’s thoughts and opinions, you give him an opportunity to talk. The impulse to answer a question – any question – is automatic. Everyone, including that rare individual who refuses to answer, pays more attention to a question than a statement. Hearing a question puts the listener on alert.

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”
-Eugene Ionesco

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”
–Voltaire

“The wise man doesn’t give the right answer, he poses the right question.”
-Claude Levi-Strauss

“He who asks a question remains a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask remains a fool forever.”
-Unknown

“The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.”
-Ruby Dee

“Part of being successful is about asking questions and listening to the answers.”
-Anne Burrell

 “In the old economy, it was all about having the answers. But in today’s dynamic, lean economy, it’s more about asking the right questions. A more beautiful question is about figuring out how to ask, and answer, the question that can lead to new opportunities and growth.”
-Eric Ries

 “No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.”
-Charles Proteus Steinmetz