Wait, What? Quotes

“Asking good questions is hard because it requires you to see past the easy answers and to focus instead on the difficult, the tricky, the mysterious, the awkward, and sometimes the painful.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“The only truly bad questions are not really questions at all. They are statements disguised as questions that are meant to be demeaning or designed to trip you up.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Wait, what?” is at the root of all understanding.         “I wonder . . . ?” is at the heart of all curiosity.         “Couldn’t we at least . . . ?” is the beginning of all progress.         “How can I help?” is at the base of all good relationships.         And “What truly matters?” helps get you to the heart of life. If”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Effective leaders, even great ones, accept that they don’t have all the answers. But they know how to ask the right questions—questions that force others and themselves to move past old and tired answers, questions that open up possibilities that, before the question, went unseen.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Because you were my first friend here. You listened to me.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“The trick is to help others without believing yourself to be, or acting like you are, their savior.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“When like-minded individuals get together, online or in real life, they tend to reinforce each other’s views. They not only increase the strength of each other’s convictions, but they often lead each other, intentionally or not, to take even more extreme positions.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Couldn’t we at least talk it through, and talk about what it would mean for our family?”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“.” It takes time to discover the question, but it is time well spent. Einstein, who was a big believer in the importance of asking questions, famously said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, and his life depended on it, he would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining the proper question to ask.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“And there is no greater gift to bestow on children than the gift of curiosity. Effective leaders, even great ones, accept that they don’t have all the answers. But they know how to ask the right questions—questions that force others and themselves to move past old and tired answers, questions that open up possibilities that, before the question, went unseen.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Asking “Wait, what?” is also a good way to avoid jumping to conclusions or making snap judgments. Too often we decide very early whether we agree or disagree with someone or with an idea, without making an effort to truly understand the person or the point. Our”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Too often we fail to pause for clarification, thinking that we understand something before we do. In doing so, we miss the opportunity to grasp the full significance of an idea, an assertion, or an event. Asking “Wait, what?” is a good way to capture, rather than miss, those opportunities.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Wait, what?” is at the root of all understanding. “I wonder . . . ?” is at the heart of all curiosity. “Couldn’t we at least . . . ?” is the beginning of all progress. “How can I help?” is at the base of all good relationships. And “What truly matters?” helps get you to the heart of life.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“As parents (and teachers), you try to help solve problems, both big and small. Very often, you think you know what the solution is, so you offer your idea—or a whole slew of ideas. Yet sometimes offering solutions simply fuels the anxiety or stubbornness that your kids or students are feeling, just as occurred with the boy in ski school. If you instead listen patiently and silently to their concerns and complaints, and then ask how you can help, it changes the conversation. It usually causes my own kids to pause. They think about whether I can actually help them and, if so, how. More often than not, they eventually tell me that I can’t really do anything. But in saying this they are already starting to figure out the problem for themselves. What they most needed to do was vent, get some sympathy, and figure out a solution for themselves.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“All of which is to say that how you help matters just as much as that you do help, which is why it is essential to begin by asking, “How can I help?” If you start with this question, you are asking, with humility, for direction. You are recognizing that others are experts in their own lives, and you are affording them the opportunity to remain in charge, even if you are providing some help.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Couldn’t we at least get started?” on something—whether it was a new project or new initiative. I have discovered, consistent with Goethe’s observation, that once you commit to something, you often end up mobilizing a stream of resources, ideas, and assistance that you never imagined would come your way.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Couldn’t we at least . . . ?” is a good way to get unstuck. It is a way to get past disagreement to form some consensus, as in, “Couldn’t we at least agree?” It’s also a way to get started even when you’re not entirely sure where you will finish, as in: “Couldn’t we at least begin?” No matter its specific form, asking questions that begin with “Couldn’t we at least . . . ?” is the way to make progress.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Learning these stories will inevitably enrich your life. It might even lengthen it. Curiosity, it turns out, is conducive to health and happiness, as scores of social scientists have documented. Curious people, not surprisingly, are likely to learn more and to retain more of what they learn. Curious people are likely to be more attractive to others, as people are attracted to those who seem interested in them. Curiosity also leads to empathy, an emotion that seems in short supply today. Curious people are likely to be healthier, and to experience less anxiety in particular, because they see new situations as an opportunity to learn rather than an opportunity to realize that they don’t know enough. Curious people are also, according to some studies, likely to live longer, presumably because they are more engaged with the world around them.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Good friends ask great questions, as do good parents. They pose questions that, just in the asking, show how much they know and care about you. They ask questions that make you pause, that make you think, that provoke honesty, and that invite a deeper connection. They ask questions that don’t so much demand an answer as prove irresistible. Posing irresistible questions, I believe, is an art worth cultivating.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Everyone has a unique story. […]

Learning these stories will inevitably enrich your life. It might even lengthen it. Curiosity, it turns out, is conducive to health and happiness, as scores of social scientists have documented. Curious people, not surprisingly, are likely to learn more and to retain more of what they learn. Curious people are likely to be more attractive to others, as people are attracted to those who seem interested in them. Curiosity also leads to empathy, an emotion that seems in short supply today. Curious people are likely to be healthier, and to experience less anxiety in particular, because they see new situations as an opportunity to learn rather than an opportunity to realize that they don’t know enough. Curious people are also, according to some studies, likely to live longer, presumably because they are more engaged with the world around them.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: And Life's Other Essential Questions

“Not having answers, much less a vision, made me nervous at first, to the point of despair and occasional panic. After a while, however, I grew tired of pretending I knew the answers, so I started to ask questions, even in response to questions. As in: “That’s a good question. What do you think?”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“How can I help?” If you start with this question, you are asking, with humility, for direction. You are recognizing that others are experts in their own lives, and you are affording them the opportunity to remain in charge, even if you are providing some help.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“All because we asked “Couldn’t we at least . . . ?” instead of giving up on the idea altogether.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“In sum, the question “I wonder why?” is essential because it is at the heart of curiosity, and asking this question is the way to remain interested in the world around you, including your place in it.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“While the question “I wonder if?” is a question worth asking on its own, it is also closely connected to the question “I wonder why?” Once you start asking “I wonder why?” and especially if you get an unsatisfying answer, you are inevitably going to ask “I wonder if things could be different?” Put another way, to ask “I wonder why?” about the present naturally raises the question “I wonder if?” about the future.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Just as asking “I wonder why?” will keep you curious about the world, asking “I wonder if?” will keep you engaged in the world. Nearly every adventure I have been on, and nearly every new thing I have tried, began with the question: “I wonder if I could do that?” The answers have not been uniform.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Curious people are likely to be more attractive to others, as people are attracted to those who seem interested in them. Curiosity also leads to empathy, an emotion that seems in short supply today.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“Everyone has a unique story. To hear these stories, and to understand the world around you, from the beliefs and values of a community to the experiences of the people in it, you simply have to take the time to notice and to ask “I wonder why?”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“This single question is the key that can unlock a wealth of stories and solve a host of mysteries, large and small. This is the question that launches discoveries and leads to remarkable insights.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions

“For whatever reason, most people, I have noticed, tend to become less curious about the world as they age. It may be that their curiosity was not sufficiently encouraged by parents or teachers, who can become weary of the “why” question.”
― James E. Ryan, Wait, What?: A Thought-Provoking Guide To Asking The Right Questions