Daniel Dennett Quotes

I am a philosopher, not a scientist, and we philosophers are better at questions than answers.

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.

It is frequently more rewarding merely to ask pertinent questions. It may get someone to go and look for an answer.

the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. ... Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.

It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth.

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.

Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers.

If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things.

The scientist … creates more and more questions, never fewer. Indeed the measure of our intellectual maturity … is our capacity to feel less and less satisfied with our answers

I am generally fascinated by what are the big, challenging questions - that's behind my curiosity.

Science is about questioning things.

In philosophy you're never 100% sure. You're always undermining what you think you know. That's always been my philosophy and my intellectual ethos.

It is wiser to find out than to suppose.

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

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

Belief in truth begins with doubting all that has hitherto been believed to be true.

Why' is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it. The alphabet does not go 'A B C D What? When? How?' but it does go 'V W X Why? Z.

To philosophize is to doubt.

Doubt is often the beginning of wisdom.

At the very smallest wheel of our reasoning it is possible for a handful of questions to break the bank of our answers.

Questions outlive the answers.

Not all questions are answered, but fortunately some answers are questioned.

There will always be more questions. Every answer leads to more questions. The only way to survive is to let some of them go.

He explained to me with great insistence that every question posessed a power that did not lie in the answer.

Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.' Remember this statement, because it is an admission that is rare, even among philosophers. Moreover, it can be so dangerous to say in public that it can cost you your life. The most subversive people are those who ask questions. Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.