Great Throughts Treasury

"The all-important question is not whether human life will survive upon this planet. Rather, it is whether the souls of men will be fit to use God’s gift of personal survival in an eternal fellowship." - Georgia Harkness

"If we do discover a complete [unified] theory [of the universe], it should be in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God." - Stephen Hawking

"It is not enough for me to be able to say `I am’; I want to know who I am and in relation to whom I live. It is not enough for me to ask questions; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?" - Abraham Joshua Heschel

"The beginning of faith is not a feeling for the mystery of living or a sense of awe, wonder, or fear. The root of religion is the question what to do with the feeling for the mystery of living, what to do with awe, wonder, or fear. Religion, the end of isolation, begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us. It is in that tense, eternal asking in which the soul is caught and in which man’s answer is elicited." - Abraham Joshua Heschel

"He must summon his people to be with him – yet stand above, not squat beside them. He must question his own wisdom and judgment – but not too severely. He must hear the opinions and heed the powers of others – but not too abjectly. He must appease the doubts of his critic and assuage the hurts of the adversary – sometimes. He must ignore their views and achieve their defeat – sometimes… He must respect action – without becoming intoxicated with his own. He must have a sense of purpose inspiring him to magnify the trivial event to serve his distant aim – and to grasp the thorniest crisis as if it were the merest nettle. He must be pragmatic, calculating, and earthbound – and still know when to spurn the arithmetic of expediency for the act of brave imagination, the sublime gamble with no hope other than the boldness of his vision" - Emmet John Hughes

"All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?" - Nicholas Johnson

"The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interest upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance." - Carl Jung, fully Carl Gustav Jung

"The doctor should not strive to heal at all costs. One has to be exceedingly careful not to impose one’s own will and conviction on the patient... Sometimes it is really a question whether you are allowed to rescue a man from the fate he must undergo for the sake of his further development." - Carl Jung, fully Carl Gustav Jung

"To ask the right question is already half the solution of a problem." - Carl Jung, fully Carl Gustav Jung

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything." - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

"Schools inevitably teach good or bad values in everything they do. Every interaction, whether part of the academic curriculum or the human curriculum of rules, roles, and relationships, has the potential to affect a child’s values and character for good or for ill. The question is not whether to do values education but whether to do it well." - Thomas Lickona, fully Thomas Edward Lickona

"Does God work? This is a crucial question, for the denigration of work and the degradation of the worker in both antiquity and modernity are supported by the view that the gods do not have to work. That is what makes them gods." - Douglas Meeks, also M. Douglas Meeks

"I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome." - Golda Meir, originally named Goldie Mabovitch, later Goldie Myerson

"Everybody is ambitious. The question is whether he is ambitious to be or ambitious to do." - Jean Monnet, fully Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet

"I question whether God himself would wish me to hide behind the principles of non-violence while innocent people were being slaughtered." - Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa

"To approach the living question with the mind alone is impossible. The intellect must be coupled with feeling in order to stir a person to authentic inquiry. Real philosophy recognizes that ideas have sensations and emotions connected with them, and that one responds to them with the whole of oneself." - Jacob Needleman

"For a life to have meaning it must connect with other things or values beyond itself… To see something’s limits is to question its meaning." - Robert Nozick

"Sanity was statistical; it was merely a question of learning to think as they thought." -

"There’s no good answer to a stupid question." - Russian Proverbs

"The Bible is an answer to the question: how to sanctify life." - Fritz A. Rothschild

"What I wish to emphasize is the duality of the human requirement when it comes to the question of size: there is no single answer. For his different purposes man needs different structures, both small ones and large ones, some exclusive and some comprehensive… For constructive work, the principal task is always the restoration of some kind of balance. Today, we suffer from an almost universal idolatry of giantism. It is therefore necessary to insist on the virtues of smallness – where this applies. (If there were a prevailing idolatry of smallness, irrespective of subject or purpose, one would have to try and exercise influence in the opposite direction.)" - E. F. Schumacher, fully Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher

"The question of our time is no longer how to take things apart, but how to work responsibly at reassembling them." -

"The question is not: Do we identify with something or not? The question is: What do we identify with?" - Ezriel Tauber

"If there is a time of judgment, instead of theological or institutional litmus tests, the only question asked about our life and spirituality will be "Did you love with abandonment?"" - Robert V. Taylor, aka The Very Reverend Robert V. Taylor

"Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt." -

"Forgiveness is an answer, the divine answer, to the question implied in our existence. An answer is answer only for him who has asked, who is aware of the question." -

"The goal of personal life is known to you beyond all question, and consists in the realization in you of the highest perfection of love, which is essential for the realization of the Kingdom of God. And this goal is always known to you and is always attainable." - Leo Tolstoy, aka Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy or Tolstoi

"As I learnt very early in my life in Whitehall, the acid test of any political question is: What is the alternative?" - Lord Trent, aka Baron Trent, Sir Jesse Boot, 1st Baronet

"The culmination and fruit of literary artistic expression, and its final fields of pleasure for the human soul, are in metaphysics, including the mysteries of the spiritual world, the soul itself, and the question of immortal continuation of our identify." -

"I am not going to question your opinions. I am not going to meddle with your belief. I am not going to dictate to you mine. All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you." - Frances Wright, known as Fanny Wright

"A person who always makes the way for other son the road won’t waste one hundred steps in his whole life. He who always gives in on a question of boundaries won’t lose even a single section over the course of his life." - Wang Yu-p’u

"The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth." - Pierre Abelard, aka Abailard or Abaelard or Habalaarz

"The significance of man is that he is that part of the universe that asks the question, 'What is the significance of man?' He alone can stand apart imaginatively and, regarding himself and the universe in their eternal aspects, pronounce a judgment: The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it." -

"Don't spend your precious time asking "Why isn't the world a better place?" It will only be time wasted. The question to ask is "How can I make it better?" To that there is an answer." -

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." -

"If we do discover a complete [unified] theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we would know the mind of God." -

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything." -

"When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter five years from now? If yes, then do something about the situation. If no, then let it go." - Catherine Pulsifer

"Anyone can become part of the critical mass that offers us a chance of improving the world before it is too late. You can rethink your goals and question what you are doing with your life. If your present way of living does not stand up against an impartial standard of value, then you can change it." - Peter Singer

"We should each ask ourselves: what place does ethics have in my daily life? In thinking about this question, ask yourself: what do I think of as a good life, in the fullest sense of that term? This is an ultimate question. To ask it is to ask: what kind of a life do I truly admire, and what kind of life do I hope to be able to look back on, when I am older and reflect on how I have lived? Will it be enough to say: "It was fun"?" - Peter Singer

"Exploring the question brings more wisdom than having the answer" - A Course In Miracles, aka ACIM

"Exploring the question brings more wisdom than having the answer" -

"Human life will never be understood unless its highest aspirations are taken into account. Growth, self-actualization, the striving toward health, the quest for identity and autonomy, the yearning for excellence (and other ways of striving "upward") must now be accepted beyond question as a widespread and perhaps universal tendency." - Abraham Harold Maslow

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question in philosophy." - Albert Camus

"There is only one philosophical problem that is really serious, and that is suicide. To decide whether life is worth living or not is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy." - Albert Camus

"I have seen many people die because life for them was not worth living. From this I conclude that the question of life’s meaning is the most urgent question of all." - Albert Camus

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question in philosophy." -

"There is only one philosophical problem that is really serious, and that is suicide. To decide whether life is worth living or not is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy." -