Patch Adams Question?

Question

What does this quote mean?

"We are not the answer," he said. "We are a stimulant to ask questions."

Answer 1

I researched this quote and realized that it was from an article about the real Dr. Adams, not a quote from the movie.  Right before the quote, he said that "he realizes that his approach to life and medicine is not for everyone."  In the quote, it appears to me that he means that human beings don't have the answers for everything, that we aren't the solutions to life's problems, that there's more than one way to solve a problem.  We fuel questions and try to solve problems from there.

Answer 2

it seems like a pretty deep quote from a very bright man.

I think maybe he means the more we think outside the box, the more it opens people's mind to new possibilities and new questions.

It seems to also imply that there is no final answer just endless possibilities and one insight begets another and more to think about.

I really enjoyed your last two questions and trying to answer them...got me thinking a bit even though I am falling asleep as I type but cant seem to walk away from the computer :)

Answer 3

Don't know who Patch Adams is, but that's a cool quote and very true.

Basically I think it means that we (mankind) are not the answer to any questions that we have about life, or we are not THE answer - meaning everyone's looking for the answer (although we're not quite sure what the question is) and humans are not it. But we are definitely something to question, because their are so many billions of things to know about mankind, our lives, our minds, every aspect of us brings up a thousand new questions. So we're stimulant to ask questions, but that doesn't make us the answers.

Answer 4

First, we need to know in what context that statement was made. Otherwise it has no meaning.