“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers”.

Einstein once said, "A smart man will give the right answer; a brilliant man will ask the right question." Kinda similar to Voltaire, and just as profound. A guy in a bar once told me, "I've never learned a damn thing while my gums were flapp'n." For some reason that has always stuck with me. Telling others what you know is fine for them; learning what others know is great for you! Knowledge is one of the few limitless resources we have; dont EVER stop learning....and the beast way to learn is to ask questions!!!

I think this quote makes alot of sense. I think questions and answers come from two very different directions. Questions come from within and are more apt to be realistic. Where answers are sometimes well though out and sometimes evading the realistic issue. Questions open a forum and answers close it.

Lore- I think Voltaire was letting us know that sometimes being the quiet observer gains us more knowledge about a person than perhaps we give it credit. I think he's also telling us that sometimes you can know more about a man by where his interests lay (the questions he asks) then by what he tells you. Most men (and I mean mankind in general) will not directly answer anything about their true nature. However, if one watches what the man asks, where he seeks, one can know a great deal about his true nature. Namaste-Anora

I never really want to judge anyone. I just let them be, whatever they're asking about. I don't judge a man by his answers or questions even though it's said by a famous person.