Do Not Ask Why Quotes

#1. Most discipline is hidden discipline, designed not to liberate but to limit. Do not ask Why? Be cautious with How? Why? leads inexorably to paradox. How? traps you in a universe of cause and effect. Both deny the infinite.

Frank Herbert

#2. But let me ask you this though, first and foremost: who's your favorite Spice Girl? Mine is Sporty Spice and I'll tell you why. You know what? She might not be as aesthetically pleasant as the rest but she'll do a backflip and steal your heart.

Janeane Garofalo

#3. Listen, you listen to the work and you decide whether you want to support it. But don't ask me why I'm doing it, because I really do not know the answer.

Joe Frank

#4. You ask me why I do not write something ... I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.

Florence Nightingale

#5. Can you tell me where to find Tobias'? I ask. When I imagine his face, affection for him bubbles up inside of me and all I want to do is kiss him. 'Four, I mean. He's so handsome, isn't he? I don't really understand why he likes me so much. I'm not very nice, am I?'
-Tris

Veronica Roth

#6. My child, it will be better for you if you accept my decisions without complaint. Do not ask me to defend my actions or to explain why one person is favored and another seems slighted. The answers to these questions go far beyond your comprehension.

Thomas A Kempis

#7. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know, go ask your dad.

Dr. Seuss

#8. I do not know what arguments mean in reference to any expression of a thought. I delight in telling what I think; but if you ask me how I dare say so, or why it is so, I am the most helpless of men.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

#9. Do you believe in ghosts, Dim?" "Certainly not: but like every sensible man, I'm afraid of them. Why do you ask?

Arthur C. Clarke

#10. I do not understand why, when I ask for grilled lobster in a restaurant, I'm never served a cooked telephone.

Salvador Dali

#11. What do you think?" I ask.
"Your suit looks like mine." Kenji frowns. "I'm supposed to be the one with the black suit. Why can't you have a pink suit? Or a yellow suit-"
"Because we're not the freaking Power Rangers," Winston says, rolling his eyes.

Tahereh Mafi

#12. One day, someone said to me, 'Do you want to go jump out of an airplane?' I felt like I had nothing to lose anymore, so I said, 'Why not?' And every day since then, I ask myself that question.

Shania Twain

#13. I am one of the lingering bad ones, and so do I slink away, and pause, and ponder, and ponder, and pause, and do work without knowing why - not surely for this brief world, and more sure it is not for heaven - and I ask what this message of Christ means.

Emily Dickinson

#14. I choose color on the spur of the moment. People ask me why I paint in red. I do not have the slightest idea. I was painting in blue, then I had a need to paint in red. To be able to interact with the medium, this is the key. There are no sure ways to do art.

Guido Molinari

#15. If you have ever prayed in the dawn you will ask yourself why you were so foolish as not to do it always: it is difficult to get into communion with God in the midst of the hurly-burly of the day.

Oswald Chambers

#16. After a moment, he turned sharply to me. 'Are you quite all right?'
'Yes, perfectly. Why do you ask?'
'Because I have just called you contrary and you did not bother to contradict me. I thought you might be ill.

Deanna Raybourn

#17. St. Francis Borgia says that he who desires to consecrate himself to God must, in the first place, trample under his feet all regard for what others will say of him. O my God, why do we not ask what Jesus Christ or his holy mother will think of our conduct?

Alphonsus Liguori

#18. People ask me why I'm so hard on men. It's because they've gotten a really easy ride. And it's not that I think women should take over the world. But I do think it should be 50/50.

Chelsea Handler

#19. Tell me, Socrates, have you got a nurse? Why do you ask such a question, I said, when you ought rather to be answering? Because she leaves you to snivel, and never wipes your nose: she has not even taught you to know the shepherd from the sheep. What makes you say that? I replied.

Plato

#20. You ask me if I love you and what you really mean is will I devour you, envelope you, obliterate life for you and worse, will I allow you to do that to me. That's why I never answer you, because I do love you, but not in the way you want, and I never will.

Rona Jaffe

#21. Whenever we do voter registration, we ask, 'Why haven't you voted before?' The response is often, 'No one's asked us.' It's not about telling people what to do - it's about sharing what they can do.

Rosario Dawson

#22. I'm thirty-five and single because I am not gonna settle for somethin' that doesn't feel right, doesn't feel good, doesn't bring me joy, doesn't have my back, doesn't know how to cook, keep house, listen, laugh, make me laugh, give great head, or ask me why I do shit.

Kristen Ashley

#23. In the moment of hardship, we ask why some things happen. In those moments of suffering, questioning prayers that do not ask for explanations but beg the Lord to accompany us are the most useful

Pope Francis

#24. I am often asked why there is discrimination against women in science. And I have given it some thought. With prejudicial attitudes, you can't really do much. You can point out when people discriminate and ask them not to.

Christiane Nusslein-Volhard

#25. Why do you still want to find her? The whispers taunt me. Why? Why?
It's a question they ask over and over again. And my answer is always the same. Because I decide when she can leave. Not her.

Marie Lu

#26. I also think that if you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax? Why not ask motorists to pay more, why not ask electricity consumers to pay more and then at the end of the year you can take your invoices to the tax office and get a rebate of the carbon tax you've paid

Tony Abbott

#27. You must question everything. You have to always ask why, and if you do not understand the answer, you ask again.

Gemma Malley

#28. Why are some people highly principled and willing to do anything for their principles, while most of us are not? And I am willing to not only ask, but also answer the question.

David Bezmozgis

#29. The first things people always ask are,
why?
And how?

But not with me.

I don't want to do anything.
I don't want to be anything.
I want to disappear elegantly.
I want people to look for my goodbye note
and find nothing but smoke.

Lora Mathis

#30. She lifted her chin and glared at him. "If you had but asked, I would've informed you that I do not attend masquerades." "That is precisely why I didn't ask.

Erica Ridley

#31. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, why would we ask those who do not fear the Lord to teach our children?

Douglas W. Phillips

#32. Do not God's visitations unnerve us? But why? Because He never comes to us without asking us to do something. We never know what He will ask of us, but we know that we will be overwhelmed by our feelings of inadequacy

Calvin Miller

#33. Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked.
"Huh?" Why would he ask her that?
"A big, mean-as-fuck, jealous guy who will break my neck with his bare hands if he knew I touched you?"
Toni shook her head.
"A raging case of herpes?"
"Of course not!"
"You're not making this any easier on me.

Olivia Cunning

#34. To ask, 'How do you do it?' is already starting off on the wrong foot. When reaching for the stars, there does not have to be a 'how' if there is a big enough 'why'.

Criss Jami

#35. Ask a physics teacher: Why do elementary particles exist? Is it impossible for them not to exist? (Be prepared for the possibility that your physics teacher doesn't want to have this conversation.)

William Lane Craig

#36. It is interesting to ask whether there's any general reason why being religious might make you do nice things or indeed nasty things. It's possible that people do nice things because they're religious. One reason might be they're hoping for a reward in Heaven, which is not a very noble reason.

Richard Dawkins

#37. Odi et amo; quare fortasse requiris, nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
(my translation: I hate and I love, you ask why I do this, I do not know, but I feel and I am tormented)

Catullus

#38. You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes, that's all.

Bernard Moitessier

#39. The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.

John Cage

#40. Trust. Why not ask me to do something easier, like prove the existence of God? Even God had given up on me.

Katie McGarry

#41. Don't even ask me why. I do not know, I have no answer to this insane behaviour.

Marina Abramovic

#42. When I go downstairs, my mom tells me I need to tuck in my shirt and wear a belt, "Why?" I ask, because I do not really care if I look respectable or not. I only want to get rid of Tiffany once and for all.

Matthew Quick

#43. Why do want to find him so bad?' I ask after a while, but she's not listening. I watch her a bit
longer. 'Why do you want to find him so bad?' I ask again.
She blinks and comes out of her dream. She flicks the band on her wrist. 'I just do.' - Ed Skye

Cath Crowley

#44. I'm not saying that there weren't other inherent problems with the score that couldn't have been overcome with a bit of remixing, but why did they ask me to do it, and why did Griffin ask me to do it this way, for a film that had nothing to do with American vernacular?

Michael Nyman

#45. Maybe the most provocative thing one can do - and I'm not the first one to do it - is to ask the moral and philosophical question: why are some people better than others? Why are some people more moral than others?

David Bezmozgis

#46. Why? Why is it has to be this, why not the other way round? Is there a simpler way? What can I do with this? Ask yourself all sorts of questions.

Jack W.

#47. We hold the future in our hands, together, we must ensure that our grandchildren will not have to ask why we failed to do the right thing, and let them suffer the consequences.

Ban Ki-moon

#48. Can I ask you a question? I swear it's not about heaven."
Joi laughs. "Shoot."
"Why do you love me?" I ask her.
"Because you love me back," she says without hesitation.
"You have no idea how much," I tell her.
"Yes, I do," she says.

Kirsten Miller

#49. Even now, I believe that to know how is useless if we do not know why. And there are too many who forbid us to ask.

Robin Wasserman

#50. It appeals to the higher nature of the self to put aside food which once lived - I do not consider myself food, why should I ask all other creatures to consider themselves so?

Catherynne M Valente

#51. But this is neither here nor there why do I mention it? Ask my pen, it governs me, I govern not it.

Laurence Sterne

#52. No one ever seems to question why the burden is all on the teacher to do the engaging, when we ask so little of the students, or for that matter, their parents." Her vehemence startled me. "I never thought of it that way," I told her. "No," she said, not unkindly. "But I promise, you will.

Tony Danza

#53. But do you know, I shall not be sorry to die. I shall be glad, Monsieur. And why glad, you ask? Because I love France and hate the Germans who have put this war on us.

Philip Gibbs

#54. And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives ... and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.

Nate Saint

#55. Despite all their fears, we ask very little of the ones who never loved us. We do not ask for sympathy or pain or compassion. We simply want to know why.

Andrew Sean Greer

#56. You've so distracted me, your absence fans my love. Don't ask how. Then you come near. "Do not ... " I say, and "Do not ... ," you answer. Don't ask why this delights me.

Rumi

#57. And why do you ask what can't be answered? What's the use of such foolish questions? How could it depend on my decision? Who has made me the judge to decide who ought to live and out ought not to live?

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#58. Does misfortune follow you everywhere, Miz Powell?" "Not normally," She pursed the lips that he found increasingly fascinating. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm thinking it might be prudent for me to increase my insurance before I drive you anywhere.

Victoria Vane

#59. You may well ask me why ... I took the time to write [books]. I can only reply that I do not know. There was no why about it. I had to: that was all.

George Bernard Shaw

#60. We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens ...

Johannes Kepler

#61. Why do the same people who believe in those deities doubt the existence of darker spirits? I ask all of you, how can a person believe in the light but not the dark?

John Searles

#62. I ask myself why I do it. Maybe it's to prove I'm still around. It takes a lot out of my body. I'm not an NBA player anymore. At my age, very few people can handle it.

Jerry Stiller

#63. Why writers write I do not know. As well ask why a hen lays an egg or why a cow stands patiently while an underprivileged farmer burglarizes her.

H.L. Mencken

#64. Are you seriously having to ask why I won't date you?" She sounded so incredulous. "Would you like me to recite the list alphabetically?"
Actually, he did. "Let's hear it."
Not even a pause. "Asshat. Braggart. Cocky tied with chauvinist. Dumbass. Egotistical. Do I really need to go on?

Eve Langlais

#65. 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 excuse to talk to you for two days.
"I want to make sure you know what you'll be dealing with and that you're studying the plans.

Leigh Bardugo

#66. Influential people are never satisfied with the status quo. They're the ones who constantly ask, 'What if?' and 'Why not?' They're not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom, and they don't disrupt things for the sake of being disruptive; they do it to make things better.

Travis Bradberry

#67. You shouldn't ask why do you wear a hat? What you really should be asking is why are you not? How can a look be complete without a hat?

John Galliano

#68. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me to let him have some flour on credit, and that I could not do. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they should not be confused. Why, the words are spelled differently, and mean quite different things. Everyone can see that.

Oscar Wilde

#69. I'm not a scholar or a psychologist, so I don't really think about why. But I do think about what it means to sing to and with people, to offer music to them, and to ask them to spend time with me.

Bobby McFerrin

#70. I hate and I love. Why do I do this, you may ask? I do not know, but I feel it, and I am tortured.

Catullus

#71. There is a communication of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk. And that is my answer when people ask me: Why do you write about hunger, and not wars or love.

M.F.K. Fisher

#72. The fan mail I get from kids are asking me questions which they do not ask their mothers and fathers. Because if they had, why write to me, a perfect stranger?

Maurice Sendak

#73. The misery stayed, not thought about but aching away, and sometimes I would have to ask myself, Why do I ache? Men can get used to anything, but it takes time.

John Steinbeck

#74. I have to ask, sir ... Why does it have to be done like this?"
Vetinari smiled. "Can you keep a secret, Mister Lipwig?"
"Oh, yes, sir. I've kept lots."
"Capital. And the point is, so can I. You do not need to know.

Terry Pratchett

#75. You should not run for president because tactically you can win. The questions you have to ask are why you're running for president and what will you do when you are president. You shouldn't run until you know the answers to those questions.

Joe Biden

#76. No, I'm not in a bad mood. Why do you ask? You think I need to be in a bad mood to let you know I think you're an idiot?

Karen E. Quinones Miller

#77. I hate and I love. You ask why I do this? I do not know, but I feel and I am tormented. - CATULLUS

Kami Garcia

#78. Do you ever see someone doing something cool and you say to yourself, "I could do that" ... And then you don't? Ask yourself, why not? Honestly, why not? You really may not have a reason to do it, but if you'd regret not doing it? That's a whole other story.

Richie Norton

#79. Why not ask yourself whether your other dreams are real? You go on trips and undergo the strangest experiences every night. How do you know they only take place in your mind?

Walter Moers

#80. Are you considering the other person you're calling when you call? Do you ask if it is a good time? If not, why not?

Loren Weisman