You should know me well enough by now to know I don't ask for things I don't think I can get.

Sometimes, when you don't ask questions, it's not because you are afraid that someone will lie to your face. It's because you're afraid they'll tell you the truth.

don't ask me a lot of questions if you don't like the answers

We are very shy of asking questions of those who know enough to destroy with one word the hopes we live on.

I may not be able to say all I think, but I am not going to say anything I do not think.

And I will not ask what all others ask of you - why? Because what I have come to understand is that there is no why. To ask why is to impose expectations on mute existence - expectations it is in no way obliged to meet or even extend. And so I make no more, ask no more.

Never ask people. Not about your work. Don't you know what you want? How can you stand it, not to know?

Don’t ask a writer what he’s working on. It’s like asking someone with cancer on the progress of his disease.

It isn't the sort of thing you ask questions about, because the answers are not usually answers you want to know.

If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer.

I tell the truth, but I don’t need to divulge everything.

I don’t ask for much. I should ask for a lot, then maybe I might get some.

They get to pick the question. You get to pick the answer. 2. You don’t have to answer any question you don’t want to. 3. Never lie or dissemble, of course; but beware of being too candid or open. 4. Never answer hypothetical questions about the future. 5. Never reveal the private advice you have given your superiors. 6. Answers should be directed to the message you want readers/viewers to get. The interviewers are not your audience. 7. They’re doing their job. You’re doing yours. But you’re the only one at risk. 8. Don’t predict or speculate about future events. 9. Beware slang or one-liners unless you are consciously trying to produce a sound bite. 10. Don’t wash dirty linen. 11. Do not answer any question containing a premise you disagree with. 12. Don’t push yourself or be pushed into an answer you don’t want to give. 13. If trapped, be vague and mumble. 14. Never cough or shift your feet.

Put simply, you can’t ask your unconscious a question, and expect a direct answer — a neat, tidy little verbal message.