4 Questions everyone should ask

The David Alliance

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

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• If you mixed vodka with orange juice and milk of magnesia, would you get a Phillips Screwdriver?
• If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy all her friends?
• If you jog backwards, will you gain weight?

One of my favorite quotes is “nothing ruins a great question faster than an easy answer”.

Here (in alphabetical order by author) are 15 great quotes about questioning:

1. 1.“The master key of knowledge is, indeed, a persistent and frequent questioning.” – Peter Abelard
2. 2.“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.” – Francis Bacon
3. 3.“The one who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.” – Confucius
4. 4.“The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.” – Peter Drucker
5. 5.“Only the one who does not question is safe from making a mistake.” – Albert Einstein
6. 6.“There are no right answers to wrong questions.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
7. 7.“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” – Naguib Mahfouz
8. 8.“Never ask a question unless the answer makes a difference.” – Proverb
9. 9.“There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions.” – Charles Proteus Steinmetz
10. 10.“It’s better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” – James Thurber

Matthew 7:7

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

One of the best things about a good question is that it can motivate you more than the answer itself. I always ask myself “does your wife want a fat limp husband”. Now I know the answer… but the question itself motivates me in the gym, in the kitchen and in daily life choices…

QUESTIONS

Every once in a while get off the merry go round and ask yourself these questions. 1. what am I doing? 2. what should I be doing? 3. What should I be doing next? 4. What should I not be doing?

As mentioned, the best questions often come in response to listening to what the person said, but these questions are good to keep in reserve:

• What are you thinking about these days?
• What are you looking forward to?
• What might surprise me about (insert a topic s/he knows a lot about)?
• What’s something not obvious about (insert a topic s/he knows a lot about)?
• What’s the best and worst thing about X?