An armorer used to claim that he makes the best spears and shields. "My shields are so strong; they cannot be penetrated by any weapon, and spears are so sharp; they can pierce any shield," he would claim. A man passing by looked at him and asked, "What happens then if your spear is thrown at your shield?" The armorer became speechless. Thus the man could make the armorer reflect on his own folly. Socrates the great once said, “When I was very young, I started going to the sculpture studio with my father. He taught me how to make stone sculptures by asking me to copy some of his carvings. Sometimes my father would tell me to use a different angle with the chisel. I liked his help, but I always asked ‘Why?’ Many years later, my father remarked that it wasn't the sculpting aptitudes that made me a famous thinker, but it is the fact that I always asked questions.”
People do not generally ask creative questions, they allow others think for them. During the times of the great Confucius, there lived a learned and humble man. The Duke awarded him the honour of ‘Wen’ and he came to be known Kung Wen Zi. A student of Confucius, who did not think him to be worthy of such a great honour asked Confucius, "Why was he given the title of 'Wen'?". The great master replied, “He was humble and not afraid to ask questions.”
The attitude of reluctance to produce questions has come to be the honoured trade mark of the present day religionists too. That is why matter and eternity still live together in them. Real quests sprout from questions and never from answers. If Vasco-De-Gama had not asked questions, if Edison had not asked questions, if Einstein had not asked questions….we cannot imagine what the present world would have been. Asking questions and finding answers change the world fast for the better; doubting everything and living in curiosity but ruin the world. Generating necessary enthusiasm could be the best support we give others.
