--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I began to ask two questions while I was…" description: "\"I began to ask two questions while I was reading a book that excited me: not only what was going to happen next, but how is this done? How is it that t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/e-l-doctorow-4627_ask_i-began-to-ask-two-questions-while-i-was_1685266.png" --- # I began to ask two questions while I was reading a book… ![“I began to ask two questions while I was reading a book that excited me: not only what was going to happen next, but how is this done? How is it that these words on the page make me feel the way I'm feeling? This is the line of inquiry that I think happens in a child's mind, without him even…” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/e-l-doctorow-4627_ask_i-began-to-ask-two-questions-while-i-was_1685266.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/e-l-doctorow-4627_ask_i-began-to-ask-two-questions-while-i-was_1685266.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/e-l-doctorow-4627_ask_i-began-to-ask-two-questions-while-i-was_1685266.png) > “I began to ask two questions while I was reading a book that excited me: not only what was going to happen next, but how is this done? How is it that these words on the page make me feel the way I'm feeling? This is the line of inquiry that I think happens in a child's mind, without him even knowing he has aspirations as a writer.” [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Curiosity drives reading: asking what happens next and how it feels deepens engagement and sparks creative ambition. **In simple terms:** Ask what happens and why it feels that way. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity while reading. Themes curiosity learning creativity Mood inquisitive reflective Type educational literary When to use this quote - classroom reading - book clubs - creative writing workshops - personal study Key Concepts narrative empathy aspiration Questions to Reflect On - How does questioning enhance comprehension? - What emotions do you notice while reading? A Different Perspective Not everyone feels the same emotional response. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ask](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ask/) [Aspirations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirations/) [Aspirations Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspirations-writer-997606/) [Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/began/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Excited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excited/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling/) [Feeling Line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-line-997604/) [Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going/) [Happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happen/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Happens Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens-child-997607/) [He](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/he/) [Him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/him/) [How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how/) [I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-think/) [Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) [Inquiry Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry-think-997608/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line/) [Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/page/) [Questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions/) [Questions Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions-reading-997605/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading A Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-a-book/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [While](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/while/) [Without](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I've been writing all my life. 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It knows only itself. Awake, I am in a continuum with my dreams. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/there-are-moments-when-i-cannot-bear-this-unremitting-consciousness/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Most people are quiet in the world, and live in it tentatively, as if it were not their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/most-people-are-quiet-in-the-world-and-live-in-it-tentatively-as-if/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-book-begins-as-a-private-excitement-of-the-mind/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-started-on-computers-with-billy-bathgate-a-little-orange-screen/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only way out is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Facts are the images of history, just as images are the facts of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/facts-are-the-images-of-history-just-as-images-are-the-facts-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [The nature of good fiction is that it dwells in ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-nature-of-good-fiction-is-that-it-dwells-in-ambiguity/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Uncharged with invisible meaning, the visible is nothing, mere clay; and without visible circumstance, a territory, to connect to, our spirit is shapeless, nameless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/uncharged-with-invisible-meaning-the-visible-is-nothing-mere-clay-and/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-a-novel-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-did-have-a-feeling-then-that-the-culture-of-factuality-was-so/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I got married very early, and in no time at all, we had three children. And it seemed to me I had an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-got-married-very-early-and-in-no-time-at-all-we-had-three-children/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-you-re-writing-a-book-you-don-t-really-think-about-it-critically/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A writer's life is so hazardous that anything he does is bad for him. Anything that happens to him is bad: failure's bad, success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-writer-s-life-is-so-hazardous-that-anything-he-does-is-bad-for-him/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) [Explore all 108 E. L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## More Ask quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [I ask to be judged on the issue of unemployment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/i-ask-to-be-judged-on-the-issue-of-unemployment/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [When the only people in mainstream discourse who care about the working class are Wall Street investors, it really is time to ask where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/when-the-only-people-in-mainstream-discourse-who-care-about-the/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [I used to sit in front of McDonald's and ask people for dollars to get me a cheeseburger. 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