John Dewey Quotes

Before it can be solved, a problem must be clearly defined.

It is a familiar and significant saying that a problem well put is half-solved.

If you can properly define the problem, then you've already defined the solution as well.

How you define a problem shapes how you address it.

How do we attack important problems? Pose the right question.

What intrigues us as a problem, and what will satisfy us as a solution, will depend upon the line we draw between what is already clear and what needs to be clarified.

A philosophy is characterized more by the formulation of its problem than by its solution of them.

A problem is a question you haven't yet answered to a level that has fulfilled you.

If you can talk brilliantly about a problem

The task is not so much to solve problems as to propose questions.

To solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name.

The definition of the problem, rather than its solution, will be the scarce resource in the future.

You are right in demanding that an artist should take an intelligent attitude to his work, but you confuse two things: solving a problem and stating a problem correctly.

Most problems precisely defined are already partially solved.

The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.

In the life of a nation, few ideas are more dangerous than good solutions to the wrong problems.

The task of a writer is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.

Necessity does everything well.

Whenever we propose a solution to a problem, we ought to try as hard as we can to overthrow our solution, rather than defend it.

It's only by thinking even more crazily than philosophers do that you can solve their problems.

Success is a collection of problems solved.

Often, the most striking and innovative solutions come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong.

It is a curious property of research activity that after the problem has been solved the solution seems obvious.

There is nothing more negligent than attempting to address a problem one finds on a branch than by censoring the leaves.

In this box are all the words I know… Most of them you will never need, some you will use constantly, but with them you may ask all the questions which have never been answered and answer all the questions which have never been asked. All the great books of the past and all the ones yet to come are made with these words. With them there is no obstacle you cannot overcome. All you must learn to do is use them well and in the right places.