Quote Origin: I Would Rather Have Questions That Can’t Be Answered Than Answers That Can’t Be Questioned

Posted byquoteresearch

Richard Feynman? Daniel Dennett? J. J. Hahn? Arthur
Bloch? Apocryphal? Anonymous?

An island with foliage shaped like a question mark from Pixabay

Question for Quote Investigator: Here are two instances from a family of sayings about questions and answers:

(1) Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

(2) I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers which can’t be questioned.

The first item has been attributed to the prominent philosopher Daniel Dennett, and the second item has been credited to the notable theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. I have been unable to find solid citations, and I have become skeptical. Would you please help me to trace these sayings?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Daniel Dennett did include the first saying above in his 2006 book “Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon”; however, Dennett specified an anonymous attribution, and the saying was already in circulation by 1995.

QI and other researchers have not found any substantive evidence that Richard Feynman employed the second saying above. Feynman died in 1988, and he received credit by 2014. QI conjectures that the second saying evolved from the first saying.

The earliest match for the first saying located by QI appeared in the Usenet newsgroup alt.atheism on January 16, 1995 within a message posted by J. J. Hahn whose e-mail address indicated an affiliation with the University of Minnesota. Hahn placed the saying in a signature block; hence, it occurred in many of their messages. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

J. J. Hahn is the primary candidate for creator of this saying although it is possible Hahn was simply repeating an expression that was already circulating.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Richard Feynman did make a remark which was thematically related to these sayings during a BBC interview in 1981. Feynman’s remark was reprinted in the reference “The Quotable Feynman” from Princeton University Press edited by Michelle Feynman:2

I can live with doubt, and uncertainty, and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing anything than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything.
— BBC, “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” 1981

On January 22, 1995 Jay Mehaffey responded to a message from J. J. Hahn and repeated their saying:3

>Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
>Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

Hahn kept the saying in their signature block for many months; hence, it appeared in messages sent by Hahn to alt.atheism on February 5, 1995 4 and on March 21, 1996.5

In February 1999 John Rebman sent a letter to “The Vancouver Sun” of British Columbia, Canada which credited an anonymous philosopher with the saying:6

As one philosopher once put it, “philosophy is questions that may never be answered whereas religion is answers that may never be questioned.”

Young people should develop a skeptical eye and a judicious sense of what not to believe.

In 2003 “Murphy’s Law: The 26th Anniversary Edition” compiled by Arthur Bloch included the following entry:7

The Bering Distinction
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

In 2006 “Breaking the Spell” by Daniel C. Dennett used the following as an epigraph for a section:8

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never he questioned. —Anonymous

In 2007 “The Quotable Atheist” compiled by Jack Huberman included the saying within the anonymous section:9

Anonymous (536 B.C.E.-2006 C.E.), prolific author of T-shirt and bumper sticker slogans.

“Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.”

In 2014 an inquiry was posted to the Talk section of the Wikiquote webpage for Richard Feynman. The inquiry stated that the second saying listed at the beginning of this article had been attributed to Feynman. This was the earliest match for this saying known to QI:10

I’ve seen this attributed to Feynman but without a source –
“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
Any ideas where this might come from?
50.134.146.188 01:38, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

In 2015 Chris Holman posted the following message to the Google Group madbees:11

“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers which can’t be questioned.” – Feynman

In 2017 a message sent to Usenet newsgroup sci.physics.relativity also credited Feynman:12

“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
― Richard Feynman

In 2019 the X-twitter handle @ProfFeynman posted a message crediting Feynman. The profile of @ProfFeynman stated that the account was a “Tribute to the great explainer”:13

I would rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that cannot be questioned.

In conclusion, the first saying appeared in a message from J. J. Hahn dated January 16, 1995. Hahn is the leading candidate for creator of this saying although future researchers may discover earlier instances. The second saying appeared by 2014. QI conjectures that the second saying evolved from the first. The attribution to Richard Feynman is unsupported.

Image Notes: Illustration of an island with foliage shaped like a question mark from qimono at Pixabay. Image has been resized and cropped.

Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Poria Y, Scott Morales, Kam-Yung Soh, Sue Ferrara, Jane Bella, Ronan Connolly, and an anonymous person whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to researcher Barry Popik who explored this topic and found helpful citations beginning on November 16, 1997. In addition, thanks to the volunteer editors of Wikiquote.org.

  1. Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: Jan 16, 1995, 1:34:20 AM, Newsgroup: alt.atheism, From: J J Hahn @gold.tc.umn.edu, Subject: Strong or Weak a-fairiest? Which am I?. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  2. 2015, The Quotable Feynman, Edited by Michelle Feynman, Chapter: Doubt and Uncertainty, Quote Page 283, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified with scans)  ↩︎
  3. Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: Jan 22, 1995, 3:02:25 AM, Newsgroup: alt.atheism, From: JayMeh Jay Mehaffey @aol.com, Subject: Strong or Weak a-fairiest? Which am I?. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  4. Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: Feb 5, 1995, 6:05:4 AM, Newsgroup: alt.atheism, From: J J Hahn @gold.tc.umn.edu, Subject: Going to Hell in a Handbasket. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  5. Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: Mar 21, 1996, 3:00:00 AM, Newsgroup: alt.atheism, From: J J Hahn @gold.tc.umn.edu, Subject: What the Hell is a “God?”. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  6. 1999 February 13, The Vancouver Sun, Section: Saturday Review, Sub-section: Letters To the Editor, Letter Title: Science and religion, Letter From: John Rebman of Surrey, Quote Page J12, Column 3, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  7. 2003, Murphy’s Law: The 26th Anniversary Edition, Compiled by Arthur Bloch, Chapter: Psycho-Murphology: The Bering Distinction, Quote Page 197, A Perigee Book, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  8. 2006, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett, Chapter 1: Breaking Which Spell?, Section 4: Peering into the abyss, Quote Page 17, Viking: Penguin Group, New York. (Google Books Preview) ↩︎
  9. 2007 Copyright, The Quotable Atheist: Ammunition for Nonbelievers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and Those Generally Hell-Bound, Compiled by Jack Huberman, Entry: Anonymous, Quote Page 11, Nation Books: An Imprint of Avalon Publishing Group, New York.(Verified with scans) ↩︎
  10. Website: Wikiquote.org, Wikiquote section: Talk Richard Feynman, Topic Title: “i would rather have questions that cannot be answered”, Timestamp verified via History: 01:38, 18 September 2014 (UTC), Website description: Compendium of quotations written collaboratively. (Accessed wikiquote.org on October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  11. Google Groups message, Timestamp: Mar 30, 2015, 10:47:26 PM, Google Group: madbees, From: Chris Holman, Subject: Has anyone gotten a nuc from Andrew Bonde of Bonde Bees in Randolph. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  12. Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: Oct 18, 2017, 9:25:43 AM, Newsgroup: sci.physics.relativity, From: RLH, Subject: A simple question. (Google Groups Search; Accessed October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
  13. X-Tweet message, Timestamp: 11:28 AM · Mar 12, 2019, Handle: Prof. Feynman @ProfFeynman. (Accessed on x.com on October 22, 2024) link ↩︎
Exit mobile version