--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To ask larger questions is to risk…" description: "\"To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong. Not to ask them at all is to constrain the life of understanding\" — George Steiner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg" --- # To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong… ![“To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong. Not to ask them at all is to constrain the life of understanding” quote by George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg) > “To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong. Not to ask them at all is to constrain the life of understanding” [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Asking big questions risks error, but avoiding them limits understanding. **In simple terms:** Big questions may be wrong but expand knowledge. Key Takeaway Embrace questioning despite uncertainty. Themes philosophy learning risk Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - academic research - personal growth - innovation - policy making Key Concepts critical thinking epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What big question scares you most? - How can you test risky ideas safely? A Different Perspective Some may argue caution prevents harmful speculation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ask Constrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ask-constrain-3253818/) [Ask Larger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ask-larger-3253817/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Constrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constrain/) [Constrain Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constrain-life-3253820/) [Larger Questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger-questions-3253816/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Questions Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions-risk-3253819/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [Homework, root canals, and deadlines are the important things in life, and only when we have these major dramas taken care of can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-heimel/homework-root-canals-and-deadlines-are-the-important-things-in-life/) [Cynthia Heimel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-heimel/) > [To constrain the brute force of the people, the European governments deem it necessary to keep them down by hard labor, poverty and ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/to-constrain-the-brute-force-of-the-people-the-european-governments/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Profound commitment to a dream does not confine or constrain: it liberates. Even a difficult, winding path can lead to your goal if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/profound-commitment-to-a-dream-does-not-confine-or-constrain-it/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/it-vexes-me-when-they-would-constrain-science-by-the-authority-of-the/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Necessities can be many, but the one that is stronger is that which constrains you to win or to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/necessities-can-be-many-but-the-one-that-is-stronger-is-that-which/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Attachment constrains our vision so that we are not able to see things from a wider perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/attachment-constrains-our-vision-so-that-we-are-not-able-to-see/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [As matters now stand, the veto seems inappropriate, given the absence of any deep ideological split between major states, and definitely constrains the war-prevention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/as-matters-now-stand-the-veto-seems-inappropriate-given-the-absence/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [The moral sentiments that constrain economic life also promote it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-malloch/the-moral-sentiments-that-constrain-economic-life-also-promote-it/) [Ted Malloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-malloch/) > [Ramp skating has become the most popular televised form of skating because they can constrain it. They can judge it based on what's happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-deitch/ramp-skating-has-become-the-most-popular-televised-form-of-skating/) [Jeffrey Deitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-deitch/) > [If I am to constrain you by any law, it must be one by which I am also bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/if-i-am-to-constrain-you-by-any-law-it-must-be-one-by-which-i-am-also/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [We need open minds and open hearts when we wrestle with the past and ask questions of it, and the answers it will provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-duffy/we-need-open-minds-and-open-hearts-when-we-wrestle-with-the-past-and/) [Eamon Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-duffy/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [You can live constrained within the confines of a solely material perspective, or choose instead the infinite field of quantum possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/you-can-live-constrained-within-the-confines-of-a-solely-material/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Contrary to popular belief, we do not face a choice between economy and ecology, It is often said that protecting the environment would constrain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/contrary-to-popular-belief-we-do-not-face-a-choice-between-economy/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [All errors which a man is likely to commit against advice are far outweighed by the evil of allowing others to constrain him for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/all-errors-which-a-man-is-likely-to-commit-against-advice-are-far/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) ## More by George Steiner > [“But there is a third mode of trancendence: in it language simply ceases, and the motion of spirit gives no further outward manifestation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/but-there-is-a-third-mode-of-trancendence-in-it-language-simply/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/words-that-are-saturated-with-lies-or-atrocity-do-not-easily-resume/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every one of my opponents, every one of my critics, will tell you that I am a generalist spread far too thin in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-one-of-my-opponents-every-one-of-my-critics-will-tell-you-that/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-starve-a-child-of-the-spell-of-the-story-of-the-canter-of-the-poem/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-have-every-reason-to-believe-that-an-individual-man-or-woman-fluent/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I believe that a work of art, like metaphors in language, can ask the most serious, difficult questions in a way which really makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-believe-that-a-work-of-art-like-metaphors-in-language-can-ask-the/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To a degree which is difficult to determine, the esoteric impulse in twentieth-century music, literature and the arts reflects calculation. It looks to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-a-degree-which-is-difficult-to-determine-the-esoteric-impulse-in/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us-2/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [“The inception of human consciousness, the genesis of awareness, must have entailed prolonged 'condensations' around intractable nodes of wonder and terror, at the discriminations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-inception-of-human-consciousness-the-genesis-of-awareness-must/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-immense-majority-of-human-biographies-are-a-gray-transit-between/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The new sound-sphere is global. It ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races. The economics of this musical Esperanto is staggering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-new-sound-sphere-is-global-it-ripples-at-great-speed-across/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [My father loved poetry and music. But deep in himself he thought teaching the finest thing a person could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/my-father-loved-poetry-and-music-but-deep-in-himself-he-thought/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-language-is-a-world-without-translation-we-would-inhabit/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) [Explore all 104 George Steiner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## More Asks 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 don't wear a watch because I want my arms to weigh the same. So if somebody asks me what time it is, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-don-t-wear-a-watch-because-i-want-my-arms-to-weigh-the-same-so-if/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [I am a practicing Catholic, but my lineage is Jewish, so if someone asks me if I'm Jewish, I say yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-campbell/i-am-a-practicing-catholic-but-my-lineage-is-jewish-so-if-someone/) [Neve Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-campbell/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [There is nothing more I ask of this life than this moment, exactly so. And suddenly forever seems like too short a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-andreas/there-is-nothing-more-i-ask-of-this-life-than-this-moment-exactly-so/) [Brian Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-andreas/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-most-fundamental-question-we-can-ever-ask-ourselves-is-whether-or/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) > [For someone to ask 'Who did you play for' and to be able to answer a single name 'Liverpool' that would be brilliant...I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-carragher/for-someone-to-ask-who-did-you-play-for-and-to-be-able-to-answer-a/) [Jamie Carragher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-carragher/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I don't know how to say it exactly. Only...I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?' he asks. I shake my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-don-t-know-how-to-say-it-exactly-only-i-want-to-die-as-myself-does/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) [Browse all 7,138 Asks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong. Not to ask them at all is to constrain the life of understanding", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Steiner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getting-things-wrong-not-to-ask/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getting-things-wrong-not-to-ask/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/george-steiner-4683_asks_to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getti_2772723.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To ask larger questions is to risk getting things wrong. Not to ask them at all is to constrain the life of…” — George Steiner", "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": "George Steiner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To ask larger questions is to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getting-things-wrong-not-to-ask/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-ask-larger-questions-is-to-risk-getting-things-wrong-not-to-ask/#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 } } ] } ```