Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Statements should be treated as inquiries rather than absolute truths to encourage further exploration.
- In plain terms
- Treat what I say as questions, not facts.
- What can you take from it?
- Frame statements as questions to invite inquiry.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When should you ask instead of assert?
- How does language shape truth?
Another view
It might undermine the speaker's credibility.
More from Niels Bohr
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
Permalink to quote #12 Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.
Permalink to quote #14 Two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are obviously absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth.
Permalink to quote #11
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