Donald Barthelme Quotes

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

There are no sure answers, only better questions.

The question is just as important as the answer.

The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he is one who asks the right questions.

I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

I don't think you want to give all the answers, but I think every answer you do give should bring up another question, and not all questions should be answered.

I always say I have a Socratic approach to most things that I do. I pummel people with questions, because I need to know what they're thinking, what they're trying to achieve, what they believe the final outcome is going to be.

The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions.

My only weapon is the question.

My job is not to give you all the answers. My job is to ask the questions.

I investigate more directly. I tend to ask a lot of questions and don't feel satisfied until I have the answer.

My favorite question is 'Why?' I think it can be really helpful - I also think it can be annoying to people at times; I'll admit that. But I really do try to understand why are we approaching it this way, does it makes sense, is this the right answer, why is it the right answer, are there other paths to getting there, could those be better.

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

There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick.

Thinking begins when you ask really difficult questions.

If you don't know how it works, find out. If you're not sure if it will work, try it. If it doesn't make sense, play with it until it does. If it's not broken, break it. If it might not be true, find out.

My job is not to produce answers. My job is to produce good questions.

The questions are always more important than the answers.

I am the biggest "but why?" question asker.

Good questions outrank easy answers.

You gotta ask 'why' questions. 'Why did you do this?' A 'why' question you can't answer with one word.

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

And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where we didn't even know the right questions to ask.

I have always been much better at asking questions than knowing what the answers were.

I love to doubt as well as know.