The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.

W.h. Auden
About This Quote

Albert Einstein said, “The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.” This quote explains how we can make intelligent decisions about our lives. The basic stimuli to our intelligence are doubt and a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident. When we have a feeling that an experience is self-evident, we often do not question it. We may make some decisions based on this feeling, but without doubt, our intelligence will not be able to make intelligent decisions for us.

Source: Selected Essays

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More Quotes By W.h. Auden
  1. We must love one another or die

  2. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

  3. If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.

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