“It’s better to know how to ask the right questions than to have perfect answers to everything.”
Nagib Mapuz, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, put it this way:
“An answer tells whether a person is clever, and a question tells whether a person is wise.”
Answers are also important. But if you want to have great conversations that build strong relationships, you need to be able to ask thought-provoking questions.

Nagib Maafuz was the first Arabic-speaking author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, an Egyptian novelist. He said this about the importance of ‘questions’.
“An answer tells whether a person is clever, and a question tells whether a person is wise.”

Good questions like this lead to great conversations and have the power to deepen relationships with others. Especially thought-provoking questions are very helpful in conversation. A good question shifts the focus of a topic to the other person, the authors say. That makes it much easier for me to understand the other person’s agenda. A good question also conveys the feeling that you are listening and communicating properly.

“Use thoughtful questions to engage people and focus on the issues that matter most.”
The author advised: Below are some examples of relevant questions he posed. These are usually ‘open’ questions.

“What are you most excited about right now?”
“What do you think?”
“What options are you considering? What do you think is the best decision for you?”
“What are the most important issues we need to discuss?”
“How did you get into this field? How did you get started?”

You need to try to ask ‘good questions’. A question can tell whether a person is wise or not.