John Patrick Shanley Quotes

I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.

There are no sure answers, only better questions.

Premature certainty is the enemy of the truth.

I am too much of a sceptic to deny the possibility of anything...

The other guys are selling certainty. Not me. I'm on the corner with doubt.

Uncertainty is a very good thing: it's the beginning of an investigation, and the investigation should never end.

Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.

I love to doubt as well as know.

I make work not to give answers but to question things.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way.

To me the offer of certainty, the offer of complete security, the offer of an impermeable faith that can’t give way, is an offer of something not worth having. I want to live my life taking the risk all the time that I don’t know anything like enough yet. That I haven’t understood enough. That I can’t know enough. That I’m always hungrily operating on the margins of a potentially great harvest of future knowledge and wisdom… Those who tell you that you can only live by accepting an absolute authority: don’t think of that as a gift. Think of it as a poison chalice. Push it aside, however tempting it is. Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way.

Doubt is important because it suggests progress. Total certainty can mean there's no assessment of things. Doubt, if you don't panic, can allow newness to come in and challenge something that's an established mode.

I want to make people think about certain things or have them ask the question of 'why.' I just want to always keep the people wondering.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads. (from “Mysteries, Yes”)

We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is no certainty.

My skepticism is strong, but my curiosity is stronger.

Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passion. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.

I don't think writers should write about answers. I think writers should write about questions.

I think it's okay to ask questions. I don't think everything is answerable though.

Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.

I am unable to rule anything out.

I'm still working out my opinions - it's always a question mark. I leave loads of space open, and people don't like that.

I would say that I'm 98 percent skeptical, but the other 2 percent [is] open for the possibility of things.

I think doubt is a very healthy way to live.