--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What shapes our lives are the questions…" description: "\"What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.\" — Sam Keen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png" --- # What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to… ![“What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.” quote by Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png) > “What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.” [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our identity is shaped by the questions we choose to ask, avoid, or never consider. **In simple terms:** Questions shape our lives. Key Takeaway Ask deeper questions. Themes self‑awareness curiosity growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - coaching - education - leadership Key Concepts philosophy psychology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What questions are you avoiding? - How could new questions change your path? A Different Perspective Ignoring tough questions limits insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Truth Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-seeking/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to know what you think of yourself, then ask yourself what you think of others and you will find the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/if-you-want-to-know-what-you-think-of-yourself-then-ask-yourself-what/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever resign an office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/i-shall-never-ask-never-refuse-nor-ever-resign-an-office/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“I will do everything they ask of me, but I refuse to let them break me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-do-everything-they-ask-of-me-but-i-refuse-to-let-them-break-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our minds, bodies, feelings, relationships are all informed by our questions. What you ask is who you are. What you find depends on what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/our-minds-bodies-feelings-relationships-are-all-informed-by-our/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“When you refuse to ask for help, it tells others that they also shouldn't ask for help from you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/when-you-refuse-to-ask-for-help-it-tells-others-that-they-also/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [I refuse to ask students to pay more for college; or kick children out of Head Start programs so those with the most can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-refuse-to-ask-students-to-pay-more-for-college-or-kick-children-out/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“When you refuse to ask for help, it tells others that they also shouldn’t ask for help from you. That you look down on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/when-you-refuse-to-ask-for-help-it-tells-others-that-they-also-2/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [“You know I can do it, Kaz, and you know I'm not going to refuse. So why ask?" "Because I've been looking for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/you-know-i-can-do-it-kaz-and-you-know-i-m-not-going-to-refuse-so-why/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [“Sometimes it's not what we hold on to that shapes our lives--it's what we're willing to let go of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-hoffman/sometimes-it-s-not-what-we-hold-on-to-that-shapes-our-lives-it-s-what/) [Beth Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-hoffman/) > [It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-not-what-we-do-once-in-a-while-that-shapes-our-lives-it-s-what-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everyone thinks that the old days were better, or that they were harder, and the modern times are chaotic and complex, or easier all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-doyle/everyone-thinks-that-the-old-days-were-better-or-that-they-were/) [Brian Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-doyle/) > [“It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.” ― Anthony Robbins”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-guise/it-s-not-what-we-do-once-in-a-while-that-shapes-our-lives-it-s-what/) [Stephen Guise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-guise/) > [“History shapes the lives of all men, women and children ... sometimes unraveling humanity into an undesired mess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-i-fisher/history-shapes-the-lives-of-all-men-women-and-children-sometimes/) [Lynda I Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-i-fisher/) > [Its not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. Its what we do consistently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-what-we-do-once-in-a-while-that-shapes-our-lives-its-what-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People don’t think to ask for anything. They don’t want to be told no.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophfronia-scott/people-don-t-think-to-ask-for-anything-they-don-t-want-to-be-told-no/) Sophfronia Scott ## More by Sam Keen > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To sustain love, a man and a woman must continually be marrying and divorcing, moving with, against, away from, and beyond each other, saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-sustain-love-a-man-and-a-woman-must-continually-be-marrying-and/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [In a way, human beings have never been part of the natural order; we're not biological in the normal sense. Normal biological animals stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/in-a-way-human-beings-have-never-been-part-of-the-natural-order-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-be-on-a-quest-is-nothing-more-or-less-than-to-become-an-asker-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [There is the extreme of hopelessness and the inevitability of doom, a deep despair that comes from the sense that our industrial, consuming society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/there-is-the-extreme-of-hopelessness-and-the-inevitability-of-doom-a/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Human beings are what I think of as "biomythic" animals: we're controlled largely by the stories we tell. When we get the story wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/human-beings-are-what-i-think-of-as-biomythic-animals-we-re/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If we come from good families where we have been supported well, there is a disillusionment we have to undergo in terms of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-we-come-from-good-families-where-we-have-been-supported-well-there/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [To a large extent, the aged in our society are ghettoized. Old people are seen as useless, bypassed by history, old-fashioned, in the way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/to-a-large-extent-the-aged-in-our-society-are-ghettoized-old-people/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Call it "womb awe" or even "womb worship" but it's not simple envy. I don't remember even wanting to be a woman. But each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/call-it-womb-awe-or-even-womb-worship-but-it-s-not-simple-envy-i-don/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Mounting an expedition to actualize a Compassionate Commonwealth of all peoples...is the great spiritual challenge of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mounting-an-expedition-to-actualize-a-compassionate-commonwealth-of/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The root of humanly caused evil is not man's animal nature, not territorial aggression, or innate selfishness, but our need to gain self-esteem, deny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/the-root-of-humanly-caused-evil-is-not-man-s-animal-nature-not/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [If some incarnation of evil as unambiguous as Hitler appeared again, I would have no moral qualms about killing the enemy. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/if-some-incarnation-of-evil-as-unambiguous-as-hitler-appeared-again-i/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“A man who does not know how to wage a just battle, first with himself and then with others, has no values worth defending,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/a-man-who-does-not-know-how-to-wage-a-just-battle-first-with-himself/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) [Explore all 104 Sam Keen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) ## 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 ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Keen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions-we-ask-refuse-to-ask-or-never/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions-we-ask-refuse-to-ask-or-never/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/031/sam-keen-4929_asks_what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions_2035192.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.” — Sam Keen", "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": "Sam Keen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What shapes our lives are the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions-we-ask-refuse-to-ask-or-never/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/what-shapes-our-lives-are-the-questions-we-ask-refuse-to-ask-or-never/#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 } } ] } ```