It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.

—James Thurber

questions knowledge curiosity certainty doubt answers

About James Thurber

Portrait of James Thurber

James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University (OSU), leaving in 1918 without graduating. He spent over a year in Paris, working for the US State Department as...

More quotations from James Thurber

The only rules comedy can tolerate are those of taste, and the only limitations those of libel.

—James Thurber

comedy taste libel

Progress was all right. Only it went on too long.

—James Thurber

politics progress change dissatisfaction

Human Dignity has gleamed only now and then and here and there, in lonely splendor, throughout the ages, a hope of the better men, never an achievement of the majority.

—James Thurber

hope achievement

All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.

—James Thurber

life knowledge death self-knowledge direction

I suppose that even the most pleasurable of imaginable occupations, that of batting baseballs through the windows of the RCA Building, would pall a little as the days ran on.

—James Thurber

pleasure dullness

More quotations tagged with “answers”

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.

—Charles Caleb Colton

wisdom foolishness answers tests

Don't settle. Know what you want and reach for it. And if you don't know what you want, be patient. The answers will come to you in time, and you may find that your heart's desire has been right under your nose all the while.

—Julia Quinn in With Love

patience desire settling answers reach

If we long for our planet to be important, there is something we can do about it. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.

—Carl Sagan in Cosmos

questions knowledge courage earth answers

We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species.

—Desmond Morris

humanity questions survival doubt answers investigation

There are questions that you don’t ask because you’re afraid of the answers to them.

—Agatha Christie in The Moving Finger

fear questions answers