--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Answers are not obtained by putting the…" description: "\"Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.\" — Felix Frankfurter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png" --- # Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and… ![“Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.” quote by Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png) > “Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.” [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True insight comes from asking the right question, not from misframing the problem. **In simple terms:** Ask correct questions to find answers. Key Takeaway Focus on framing the right question. Themes critical thinking philosophy law Mood analytical inquisitive Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - legal analysis - research - problem solving - education Key Concepts logic inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What question are you avoiding? - How can you reframe a problem for clarity? A Different Perspective Finding the right question can be as hard as answering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Truth Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-seeking/) ## Related quotes > [There is a generation begging for you to be real... and to be real now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-wheaton/there-is-a-generation-begging-for-you-to-be-real-and-to-be-real-now/) [Karen Wheaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-wheaton/) > [If one starts with the assumption that, in the absence of specific Congressional authority, a fixed rule of law precludes contracting officers from providing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/if-one-starts-with-the-assumption-that-in-the-absence-of-specific/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [This desire of knowledge and the wonder which it hopes to satisfy are the driving power behind all the changes that we, with careless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-murray-butler/this-desire-of-knowledge-and-the-wonder-which-it-hopes-to-satisfy-are/) [Nicholas Murray Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-murray-butler/) > [If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-your-horse-says-no-you-either-asked-the-wrong-question-or-asked/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But what if Shakespeare― and Hamlet― were asking the wrong question? What if the real question is not whether to be, but how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/but-what-if-shakespeare-and-hamlet-were-asking-the-wrong-question/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [My computer must be broken: whenever I ask a wrong question, it gives a wrong answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/my-computer-must-be-broken-whenever-i-ask-a-wrong-question-it-gives-a/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [“...There's no right answer to the wrong question. Now what do we do?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/there-s-no-right-answer-to-the-wrong-question-now-what-do-we-do/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“For every question, there is an answer. 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The right question is whether it is living or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holloway/the-wrong-question-to-ask-of-a-myth-is-whether-it-is-true-or-false/) [Richard Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holloway/) > [“Are we products of nature or nurture? It's the wrong question. It's not one or the other. Nor is it a combination of both.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beau-lotto/are-we-products-of-nature-or-nurture-it-s-the-wrong-question-it-s-not/) [Beau Lotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beau-lotto/) > [This is the best book ever written by any man on the wrong side of a question of which he is profoundly ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/this-is-the-best-book-ever-written-by-any-man-on-the-wrong-side-of-a/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/the-most-serious-mistakes-are-not-being-made-as-a-result-of-wrong/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [If you are asking the wrong question, it doesn't matter how good the answer is, you aren't going to get where you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-wallis/if-you-are-asking-the-wrong-question-it-doesn-t-matter-how-good-the/) [Jim Wallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-wallis/) ## More by Felix Frankfurter > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [It is important not to give the appearance of a predisposed mind. And it is more important not to let the mind become predisposed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-is-important-not-to-give-the-appearance-of-a-predisposed-mind-and/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [In the first place, lawyers better remember they are human beings, and a human being who hasn't his periods of doubts and distresses and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/in-the-first-place-lawyers-better-remember-they-are-human-beings-and/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The State insists that, by thus quarantining the general reading public against books not too rugged for grown men and women in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-state-insists-that-by-thus-quarantining-the-general-reading/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [A court which yields to the popular will thereby licenses itself to practice despotism, for there can be no assurance that it will not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-court-which-yields-to-the-popular-will-thereby-licenses-itself-to/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [It would be a narrow conception of jurisprudence to confine the notion of 'laws' to what is found written on the statute books, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-would-be-a-narrow-conception-of-jurisprudence-to-confine-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [What becomes decisive to a Justice's functioning on the Court in the large area within which his individuality moves is his general attitude toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/what-becomes-decisive-to-a-justice-s-functioning-on-the-court-in-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [We forget that the most successful statesmen have been professionals. 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Because I’d rather live with the answer than die with the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ellis/and-if-you-can-t-say-yes-answer-anyway-because-i-d-rather-live-with/) Jon Ellis > [“There is a cure and answer to everything, we just haven't found them yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-halimi/there-is-a-cure-and-answer-to-everything-we-just-haven-t-found-them/) [Eve Halimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-halimi/) > [Whenever I'm asked about Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, I always answer: 'Neymar is the best,' not just because of his goals but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-carlos/whenever-i-m-asked-about-cristiano-ronaldo-or-lionel-messi-i-always/) [Roberto Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-carlos/) > [A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-cunningham/a-wiki-works-best-where-you-re-trying-to-answer-a-question-that-you/) [Ward Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-cunningham/) > [“Those are good questions. I recognize good questions, because I can come up with them myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-brust/those-are-good-questions-i-recognize-good-questions-because-i-can/) [Steven Brust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-brust/) > [My answer is bring 'em on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/my-answer-is-bring-em-on/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I'll answer anything... I'm brutally honest, actually, which gets me in trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/i-ll-answer-anything-i-m-brutally-honest-actually-which-gets-me-in/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [“...I guess I can put two and two together." "Sometimes the answer's four," I said, "and sometimes it's twenty-two...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashiell-hammett/i-guess-i-can-put-two-and-two-together-sometimes-the-answer-s-four-i/) [Dashiell Hammett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashiell-hammett/) > [Jumping someone is never the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jumping-someone-is-never-the-answer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I play along myself, even though I can't help the player. So I can't say what I think the answer might be. But I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-mcguinness/i-play-along-myself-even-though-i-can-t-help-the-player-so-i-can-t/) [Paddy McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-mcguinness/) > [Sometimes the question is complicated, but the answers are simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-suess/sometimes-the-question-is-complicated-but-the-answers-are-simple/) [Dr Suess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-suess/) Browse all 2,090 Answer quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Felix Frankfurter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the-wrong-question-and-thereby/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Answer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the-wrong-question-and-thereby/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/felix-frankfurter-7424_answer_answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the_3178437.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Answers are not obtained by putting the wrong question and thereby begging the real one.” — Felix Frankfurter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Felix Frankfurter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Answers are not obtained by putting...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the-wrong-question-and-thereby/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/answers-are-not-obtained-by-putting-the-wrong-question-and-thereby/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```