James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894) Indian judge
Source: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873-1874), Ch. 2
"Chaucer," http://books.google.com/books?id=LOdNAAAAcAAJ&q=%22The+question+of+common+sense+is+always+what+is+it+good+for+a+question+which+would+abolish+the+rose+and+be+answered+triumphantly+by+the+cabbage%22&pg=PA185#v=onepage North American Review (July 1870) http://books.google.com/books?id=sAVaov3zePMC&q=%22The+question+of+common+sense+is+always+what+is+it+good+for+a+question+which+would+abolish+the+rose+and+be+answered+triumphantly+by+the+cabbage%22&pg=PA173#v=onepage <br class="br">My Study Windows (1871)
James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894) Indian judge
Source: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873-1874), Ch. 2
“What is the question, to which this is the answer?”
Nancy Kopell (1942) American mathematician
In an interview on DSweb. https://dsweb.siam.org/The-Magazine/Article/interview-with-nancy-kopell Also quoted by Alexandros Gelastopoulos in Synchronization properties and functional implications of parietal beta1 rhythm. https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/38796 Doctoral dissertation, Boston University (2019). Preface.
John Tukey (1915–2000) American mathematician
The future of data analysis. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 33 (1), (1962), page 13.
Variant: "An approximate answer to the right question is worth a great deal more than a precise answer to the wrong question." "as the renowned statistician John Tukey once reportedly said," according to Super Freakonomics page 224.
Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958) Austrian physicist, Nobel prize winner
Letter to Markus Fierz (1948)
Context: What now is the answer to the question as to the bridge between the perception of the senses and the concepts, which is now reduced to the question as to the bridge between the outer perceptions and those inner image-like representations. It seems to me one has to postulate a cosmic order of nature — outside of our arbitrariness— to which the outer material objects are subjected as are the inner images... The organizing and regulating has to be posited beyond the differentiation of physical and psychical... I am all for it to call this "organizing and regulating" "archetypes." It would then be inadmissible to define these as psychic contents. Rather, the above-mentioned inner pictures (dominants of the collective unconscious, see Jung) are the psychic manifestations of the archetypes, but which would have to produce and condition all nature laws belonging to the world of matter. The nature laws of matter would then be the physical manifestation of the archetypes.
“Suppose no one asked a question, what would be the answer.”
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays
"Near East or Chicago A Description"
Useful Knowledge (1928)
Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism
As quoted in: Ṭhānissaro (Bhikkhu.) (2004) Handful of leaves. Vol. 3, p. 80
Robert A. Heinlein book Beyond This Horizon
Source: Beyond This Horizon (1948; originally serialized in 1942), Chapter 2, “Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief—”, p. 35; see also pages 31, 33
“That question is too good to spoil with an answer.”
Harry Mulisch book The Discovery of Heaven
Source: The Discovery of Heaven
“The question is when is good? The answer is never.”
Eugene Fama (1939) American economist and Nobel laureate in Economics
Cited in: Lawrence Delevingne. " Nobel winner Fama: Active management 'never' good. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102014057" at cnbc.com. 19 Sept. 2014.