[Ads-l] Quote Origin: I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers which can't be questioned (Probably not Richard Feynman)

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Tue Oct 22 20:29:16 UTC 2024


The saying in the subject line is usually attributed to theoretical
physicist Richard Feynman. Beginning nine years ago I have been sent
requests from seven different people to trace this quotation. I and
other researchers have not found any substantive evidence that Richard
Feynman employed this quotation. Feynman died in 1988, and he received
credit by 2014.

I conjecture that it evolved from the following quotation: Philosophy
is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may
never be questioned.

The earliest match I found for this statement appeared in the Usenet
newsgroup alt.atheism on January 16, 1995.

Here is a link to the Quote Investigation article with the details of
this exploration:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2024/10/22/question-answer/

Barry Popik performed excellent work on this topic in 2022. Popik
found citations beginning on November 16, 1997.He is acknowledged.
https://barrypopik.com/blog/philosophy_is_questions_that_may_never

Feedback and pertinent citations would be welcome,
Garson O'Toole

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