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To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
John Ruskin
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Clearly framing a question is essential for finding the right answers.

This quote emphasizes the importance of clarity in communication, particularly when seeking knowledge or answers. By articulating a question clearly, you not only guide the listener to understand your request better, but you also refine your own understanding of what you seek, thus increasing the chances of obtaining a satisfactory response.

Themes

QuestionsClarityCommunicationKnowledgeUnderstanding

In practice

Example use cases

In a classroom setting, a teacher referencing this quote to encourage students to articulate their queries clearly.

More from John Ruskin

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
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In health of mind and body, men should see with their own eyes, hear and speak without trumpets, walk on their feet, not on wheels, and work and war with their arms, not with engine-beams, nor rifles warranted to kill twenty men at a shot before you can see them.
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You talk of the scythe of Time, and the tooth of Time: I tell you, Time is scytheless and toothless; it is we who gnaw like the worm - we who smite like the scythe. It is ourselves who abolish - ourselves who consume: we are the mildew, and the flame.
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See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
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A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
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When men do not love their hearth, nor reverence their thresholds, it is a sign that they have dishonoured both ... Our God is a house-hold God, as well as a heavenly one; He has an altar in every man's dwelling.
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