“There are two sides to every question.”

— Protagoras

As quoted in Lives of Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laërtius, Book IX, Sec. 51

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 24, 2025. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "There are two sides to every question." by Protagoras?

Protagoras 6

pre-Socratic Greek philosopher -486–-411 BC

Related quotes

“Protagoras asserted that there were two sides to every question, exactly opposite to each other.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Protagoras, 3.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 9: Uncategorized philosophers and Skeptics

“There are only two sides to this question. Every man must be for the United States or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors.”

Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861) American politician

Last public speech before his death, Chicago, Illinois (1 May 1861)
1860s

“There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.”

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher

“Ther are not two sides to any question that really concerns a man, but only one, and this side only a fool can fail to see if he tries.”

Coventry Patmore (1823–1896) English poet

Aurea Dicta XX, p. 8.
The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (1895)

“Every number is at once half the sum of the two on either side of itself…”

Nicomachus (60–120) Ancient Greek mathematician

Nicomachus of Gerasa: Introduction to Arithmetic (1926)

“There are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.”

Paul J. Alessi (1968) Actor / Producer

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/10696117836382928/

“The nature of life on earth and the quest for life elsewhere are the two sides of the same question: the search for who we are.”

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator

0 min 45 sec
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1990 Update), One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue [Episode 2]
Context: All my life, I've wondered about life beyond the earth. On those countless other planets that we think circle other suns, is there also life? Might the beings of other worlds resemble us, or would they be astonishingly different? What would they be made of? In the vast Milky Way galaxy, how common is what we call life? The nature of life on earth and the quest for life elsewhere are the two sides of the same question: the search for who we are.