Curiosity Quotes Encouraging You to Keep Learning
August 18, 2022 5:00 AM EST
These curiosity quotes will inspire you to learn more about the world around you.
We have all heard the expression, “Curiosity killed the cat.”
Chances are, you haven’t stopped to think about how that saying came to be popular.
The underlying meaning of this saying is that curiosity is not worth the risk of poking your nose into something that may turn out to be harmful.
The phrase is intended to discourage curiosity.
But why is curiosity an important value to nurture?
Curiosity, at its root, is the desire to learn.
Learning more about our world helps us make decisions, and ultimately even control our destiny.
From the two-year-old incessantly inquiring, “Why?” to NASA launching a rover named Curiosity to Mars, when something piques our curiosity, we can achieve wonderful things.
This collection of curiosity quotes will help you fan the flame of your own curiosity, allowing you to achieve beyond your horizons.
Don’t forget to also read these interesting Minion quotes that will charm and delight you.
If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation.
If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.
Curiosity Quotes About Where Curiosity Can Take You
1.) “Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” – Leo Burnett
![curiosity quotes about life](images/curiosity-quotes-1.jpg)
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2.) “Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.” – Linus Pauling
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3.) “Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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4.) “As a documentarian, you think, ‘Follow your curiosity.’” – Ron Howard
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5.) “Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.” – Steven Wright
![curiosity quotes about killing the cat](images/curiosity-quotes-5.jpg)
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6.) “I have always had a sense of curiosity and aspiration.” – Waris Ahluwalia
![curiosity quotes about sense of curiosity and aspiration](images/curiosity-quotes-6.jpg)
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7.) “As long as you’re interested in people and things, that curiosity propels you forward.” – Joanna Coles
![curiosity quotes that curiosity propels you forward](images/curiosity-quotes-7.jpg)
8.) “Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” – James Stephens
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9.) “Curiosity is the best motive for writing: curiosity about the world at large, or about oneself.” – Michael Korda
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10.) “Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness.” – Bryant H. McGill
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11.) “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney
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12.) “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” – E. E. Cummings
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13.) “What I have is a malevolent curiosity. That’s what drives my need to write and what probably leads me to look at things a little askew. I do tend to take a different perspective from most people.” – David Bowie
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14.) “My favourite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities.” – Mario Testino
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15.) “Curiosity is the essence of human existence. ‘Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?’… I don’t know. I don’t have any answers to those questions. I don’t know what’s over there around the corner. But I want to find out.” – Gene Cernan
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16.) “I’m talking about enjoying and finding pleasure and interest and happiness and curiosity every moment.” – Valerie Harper
![curiosity quotes about enjoying and finding pleasure](images/curiosity-quotes-16.jpg)
Quotes About Curiosity as a Virtue
17.) “Pay attention to those employees who respectfully ask why. They are demonstrating an interest in their jobs and exhibiting a curiosity that could eventually translate into leadership ability.” – Harvey Mackay
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18.) “Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
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19.) “What interests me in life is curiosity, challenges, the good fight with its victories and defeats.” – Paulo Coelho
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20.) “Curiosity is what keeps me open to a sense of hope. It staves off negativity.” – Carrie Brownstein
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21.) “I am generally fascinated by what are the big, challenging questions – that’s behind my curiosity.” – Paul Allen
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22.) “When people don’t have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.” – Irvin D. Yalom
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23.) “Replace judgment with curiosity.” – Lynn Nottage
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24.) “Joy in the universe, and keen curiosity about it all – that has been my religion.” – John Burroughs
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25.) “The greatest virtue of man is perhaps curiosity.” – Anatole France
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26.) “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that curiosity might kill cats, but it doesn’t kill people.” – Tracy Morgan
27.) “One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.” – William Lyon Phelps
28.) “A tree you pass by every day is just a tree. If you are to closely examine what a tree has and the life a tree has, even the smallest thing can withstand a curiosity, and you can examine whole worlds.” – William Shatner
29.) “Creativity flows when curiosity is stoked.” – Neil Blumenthal
30.) “The four characteristics of humanism are curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race.” – E. M. Forster
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Curiosity Quotes About Children
31.) “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” – Albert Einstein
32.) “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” – Albert Einstein
33.) “Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance.” – William Wirt
34.) “You can’t just give someone a creativity injection. You have to create an environment for curiosity and a way to encourage people and get the best out of them.” – Ken Robinson
35.) “Education was the most important value in our home when I was growing up. People don’t always realize that my parents shared a sense of intellectual curiosity and a love of reading and of history.” – Caroline Kennedy
36.) “Standardized testing is at cross purposes with many of the most important purposes of public education. It doesn’t measure big-picture learning, critical thinking, perseverance, problem solving, creativity or curiosity, yet those are the qualities great teaching brings out in a student.” – Randi Weingarten
37.) “All children are born with stars in their eyes, and they are curious. It is important for teachers to be careful not to kill this curiosity. A lot can go wrong. Children can be teased, even by teachers.” – May-Britt Moser
38.) “Kids are naturally curious about what they don’t know, or don’t understand, or what is foreign to them. They only learn to be frightened of those differences when an adult influences them to behave that way and censors that natural curiosity.” – Aimee Mullins
39.) “I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
40.) “The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.” – Edmund Burke
41.) “Kids are born curious about the world. What adults primarily do in the presence of kids is unwittingly thwart the curiosity of children.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson
42.) “Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.” – Aldous Huxley
43.) “We read our children stories starring elephants and monkeys and bears to teach them about nobility, curiosity and courage, to warn them against selfishness and stubbornness.” – Lydia Millet
Curiosity Quotes About Science and Learning
44.) “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” – Zora Neale Hurston
45.) “Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is a process of investigating. It’s posing questions and coming up with a method. It’s delving in.” – Sally Ride
46.) “I happen to love science… Scientists are all slightly mad. There is truth in the stereotype of the mad scientist. They are mad with curiosity.” – Richard Preston
47.) “We’re born with a curiosity about the universe. Those people who don’t have a curiosity don’t have it because it’s gotten beaten out of them in some way.” – Kip Thorne
48.) “Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” – Samuel Johnson
49.) “Curiosity is the lust of the mind.” – Thomas Hobbes
50.) “Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” – William Arthur Ward
51.) “Some advice: keep the flame of curiosity and wonderment alive, even when studying for boring exams. That is the well from which we scientists draw our nourishment and energy. And also, learn the math. Math is the language of nature, so we have to learn this language.” – Michio Kaku
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52.) “I want people to believe in themselves. I want intellectual curiosity. I want someone who realizes that they don’t know it all and that they’re dying to learn.” – Kevin Plank
53.) “If you’re curious, you’ll probably be a good journalist because we follow our curiosity like cats.” – Diane Sawyer
54.) “I’m naturally curious, and I’ve always been driven by my curiosity. Curiosity gets people excited. Curiosity leads to new ideas, new jobs, new industries.” – Anne Sweeney
55.) “Lean into your curiosity about any issue, and there will likely be people to share a little bit more of their knowledge and insight and give you ideas on how to make change.” – Opal Tometi
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56.) “What is the intersection between technology, art and science? Curiosity and wonder, because it drives us to explore, because we’re surrounded by things we can’t see.” – Louie Schwartzberg
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57.) “Often have I wondered with much curiosity as to our coming into this world and what will follow our departure.” – Petrarch
58.) “The enemy of science is not religion. Religion comes in endless shapes and forms… The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma.” – Frans de Waal
59.) “Curiosity is as much the parent of attention, as attention is of memory.” – Richard Whately
60.) “I love learning, and I think that curiosity is a wonderful gift.” – Andie MacDowell
More curiosity quotes and sayings
61. “Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.” – Samuel Johnson
62. “The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.” – Oscar Wilde
63. “Enjoy every step you take. If you’re curious, there is always something new to be discovered in the backdrop of your daily life.” – Roy T. Bennett
64. “Curiosity is only vanity. We usually only want to know something so that we can talk about it.” – Blaise Pascal
65. “Curiosity is the engine of achievement.” – Ken Robinson
66. “Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It’s accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know.” – David McCullough
67. “Love is curiosity sometimes. Concentrated wondering about the other one.” – Kij Johnson
68. “Stay human, stay curious and let the entire world know that you are.” – Micheal Stevens
69. “I know you were just wondering, but sometimes wondering is better than knowing.” – Christopher Scotton
Motivational Curiosity Quotes to Inspire Learning
70. “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein
71. “Intelligence follows curiosity.” – James Clear
72. “Curiosity and questions will get you further than confidence and answers.” – Maxime Lagacé
73. “Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now.” – Naval Ravikant
74. “I don’t know anything, but I do know that everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough.” – Richard Feynman
75. “Boredom leads to one of these two things: more boredom or more creativity.” – Matthew Kobach
76. “If I know what I shall find, I do not want to find it. Uncertainty is the salt of life.” – Erwin Chargaff
77. “Intellectual curiosity is a superpower.” – Anthony Pompliano
78. “Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead.” – Susan Sontag
79. “Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form.” – Vladimir Nabokov
Curiosity Quotes To Help You gain Knowledge
80. “I have a certain curiosity for life that drives me and propels me forward.” — Rachel McAdams
81. “Curiosity takes courage. The most important promises are the ones you make to yourself. Pay Attention. Appreciate. Listen. Imagine.” — Mary Anne Radmacher
82. “I have always had a curious nature; I enjoy learning, but I dislike being taught.” — Winston Churchill
83. “When you meet people, show real appreciation, then genuine curiosity.” — Martha Beck
84. “First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity.” — George Bernard Shaw
85. “Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections.” — Daniel Boone
86. “What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions.” — Walter Pater
87. “Oprah has this intense curiosity that I haven’t found with any interviewer.” — Genevieve Gorder
88. “My own curiosity and interest are insatiable.” — Emma Lazarus
89. “Morality comes with the sad wisdom of age, when the sense of curiosity has withered.” — Graham Greene
Where will your curiosity lead you?
It might be in your career, your studies, or your personal life.
Maybe you are an artist or an athlete, and pursuing your curiosity will help you develop a new technique or explore a new concept.
Curiosity can drive science and creativity, but it can also bring us closer with those who are most important to us.
Perhaps it will help you better understand a friend or family member, or even yourself.
Wherever your curiosity leads you, remember to always listen to the inner voice that asks, “Why?” and seek enlightenment in the areas where you wonder.
Listen to the questions others ask and allow your own curiosity to be piqued as well.
What’s your biggest takeaway from these curiosity quotes and sayings?
Do you have any other insightful quotes to add?
Let us know in the comment section below.