Quotes about doubt

„The British have an umbilical cord which has never been cut and through which tea flows constantly. It is curious to watch them in times of sudden horror, tragedy or disaster. The pulse stops apparently, and nothing can be done, and not one move made, until a “nice cup of tea” is quickly made. There is no question that it brings solace and does steady the mind. What a pity all countries are not.“

—  Marlene Dietrich German-American actress and singer 1901 - 1992

„Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart.
… live in the question.“

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, book Letters to a Young Poet

Source: Letters to a Young Poet

„It's not only the question, but the way you try to solve it.“

—  Maryam Mirzakhani Iranian mathematician 1977 - 2017

Interview with Research Fellow Maryam Mirzakhani | january 2008

„My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level.“

—  Michael H. Hart American astronomer 1932

Muhammad
Source: About Muhammad, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, p.3

„A lot of sophistication has been developed about the utilization of machines for complex purposes, and it doesn't make sense not to use it if you can think of a good question to ask. Playing chess is about the dumbest question you can ask. But, if you want, maybe can make money that way, or something. In fact, what's going on with the chess is about as interesting as the fact that a front-end loader can lift more than an Olympics champion, weight lifter, or something. Probably so, but, you know, these are just not serious questions.“

—  Noam Chomsky american linguist, philosopher and activist 1928

Talk titled "Language & Mind", 1997.
Quotes 1990s, 1995-1999

„The reason people lose their healing, is because they begin questioning if God really did it.“

—  Benny Hinn American-Canadian evangelist 1952

[NBC News, Dateline, http://www.culteducation.com/reference/hinn/hinn20.html, 2002-12-27]

„I got these questions always running through my head. So many things that I would like to understand. If we are born to die and we all die to live, then whats the point of living life if it just contradicts?“

—  Ronnie Radke American singer 1983

In the song "The Drug in Me Is You"

„[A man every day should do] probably self-assess. Do I do it religiously? Not consciously, but I like to think that in one form or another I do question, yes. I would be being pretentious and untruthful if I said that I devote a bit of time just for introspection and consciously do that, but in one form or another I suspect I do. And if I don't, I think it would be a good thing to do anyway.“

—  Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank British architect 1935

gq-magazine.co.uk http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-02/01/gq-film-norman-foster-how-much-does-your-building-weigh-interview.

„Questions don't change the truth, but they give it motion.“

—  Giannina Braschi Puerto Rican writer 1953

Empire of Dreams (prose poetry, 1988)

„One of my chief "crimes" then, was to have wanted Iran to move from the oil age into the atomic age before it was too late. Must I blush for that? The peaceful use of nuclear energy did not create problems for radiation and contamination for us since we have vast stretches of desert…
I was accused of having adopted the plans for nuclear power stations among others for reasons of "personal ambition". Was it not obvious that I would be dead before most of these plans had been carried out? Why speak of personal ambition then? It was rather a question of forseeing Iran's needs. My "personal" ambitions are known to all men of good faith - to preserve national unity, to make the Iranian people as happy as possible and to prepare a more peaceful future.“

—  Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran 1919 - 1980

Page 68
Publications, The Shah's Story (1980), On oil and nuclear energy

„Would you like to know, for instance, to what extent higher mathematics is used in our two great industries? Well, it is never used at all. Having found this to be the case in my own experience, after quite a long career, I wondered whether I was not an exception; so I made enquiries, and I found that it was a general rule that neither engineers nor managers used higher mathematics in carrying out their duties. We must, of course, learn mathematics that goes without saying but the question is how much must we learn? Up to the present this point has nearly always been decided simply by professors, but it seems to me to be a question in which professors do not count very much, and in which they count less as they become more learned and more devoted to their work. They would like to pass on all their scientific knowledge and they find that their pupils always leave them too soon.“

—  Henri Fayol Developer of Fayolism 1841 - 1925

p. 909

„People will challenge you, question you, try to get you off track. Don't listen to the temptation to act out of character.“

—  T. B. Joshua Nigerian Christian leader 1963

On temptation - "'ATTRIBUTING THE SATELLITES SUCCESS TO ME IS BLASPHEMY' – T.B. JOSHUA" http://www.modernghana.com/print/247180/1/attributing-the-satellites-success-to-me-is-blasph.html Modern Ghana (November 4 2009)

„Silence can ask all the questions, where the tongue is prone to ask only the wrong one.“

—  Robin Hobb, book Fool's Errand

Source: Fool's Errand

„I was doing press for the show and they were going to show a clip from The L Word that included a love scene of sorts between me and another character, and she had the audacity to say, 'If there are any children in the room, you might want to ask them to leave.' And my mind was blown open and I said to her, ‘If it had been a heterosexual love scene, would you have asked the same question?’ I asked her on air, because I thought, it’s important to ask -- it contextualizes the import of the show." My feelings were hurt and it just spoke to me of what the gay and lesbian community has to deal with on a day-to-day basis in terms of popular media.“

—  Jennifer Beals American actress and a former teen model 1963

Beals and Obama article (3 March 2009) http://www.douban.com/note/29958902/.

„The important thing is not to stop questioning.“

—  Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955

Old Man's Advice to Youth: "Never Lose a Holy Curiosity," http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=Life%2C%202%20May%201955&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q=Life,%202%20May%201955&f=false LIFE magazine (2 May 1955) statement to William Miller, p. 64.
1950s
Context: The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity. … Don't stop to marvel.

„It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.“

—  Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955

Variant: It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

„Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.“

—  Joseph Campbell American mythologist, writer and lecturer 1904 - 1987

„Why are there beings at all, and why not rather nothing? That is the question.“

—  Martin Heidegger, book Introduction to Metaphysics

Warum ist überhaupt Seiendes und nicht vielmehr Nichts? Das ist die Frage.
What is Metaphysics? (1929), p. 110
Cf. Gottfried Leibniz, De rerum originatione radicali (1697)ː "cur aliquid potius extiterit quam nihil."
Source: Introduction to Metaphysics

„I had hoped, at my departure, I would feel sure and knowledgeable about everything that lay ahead -- after all, I had been "analyzed." Instead, all I could see were question marks.“

—  Sylvia Plath, book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar