- Nov 07, 2020
What If Quotes
On imagination, doubt and playful hypotheticals.
This page gathers quotes built around the phrase 'what if,' used to imagine alternate scenarios, such as artists like Picasso or Andy Warhol reaching the Moon, and to question deeper ideas, like whether everything might be an illusion or a shared dream. One quote even turns philosophical doubt into a joke about overpaying for a carpet. Related musings appear in our Curiosity quotes collection.
- Last Updated on Aug 01, 2026
- Gone
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- Nov 07, 2020
What if Picasso had gone to the Moon? Or Andy Warhol or Michael Jackson or John Lennon? What about Coco Chanel? These are all artists that I adore.
- Illusion
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- Nov 07, 2020
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
- Nothing
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- Nov 07, 2020
What if nothing exists and we're all in somebody's dream?
- Power
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- Nov 07, 2020
The one thing humans can't control is time, but what if one has the power to do so is the core theme of '24.'
- Power
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- Nov 07, 2020
It's easy to dislike the few senior women out there. What if women were half the positions in power? It would be harder to dislike all of them.
- Country
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- Nov 07, 2020
There is a clear norm against the spread of nuclear weapons, but there is no consensus or treaty on what, if anything, is to be done once a country develops or acquires nuclear weapons.
- Make
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- Nov 07, 2020
Foreign aid should not be automatic. Countries should have to make their case every year, and American officials should openly decide what, if anything, to fund.
- Liberty
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- Nov 07, 2020
What if democracy does not serve liberty? This question is seldom asked in the West, where democracy is often seen as synonymous with liberalism.
- Done
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- Nov 07, 2020
Even if trolley problems were a realistic concern for AVs, it is not clear what, if anything, regulators or companies developing AVs should do about them. The trolley problem is an intensely debated thought experiment precisely because there isn't a consensus on what should be done.
- Love
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- Nov 07, 2020
I love the 'what if' nature of sci-fi.
- Play
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- Nov 07, 2020
What if 16th century people were right, and the supernatural and natural coexisted? How would that play out?
- Parents
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- Nov 07, 2020