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Who really said it

There are years that ask questions and years that answer

Written by Zora Neale Hurston 1891–1960 · American novelist, anthropologist & folklorist of the Harlem Renaissance
Verified In copyright

It is the opening line of Chapter 3 of Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God: “There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask.” Quote Investigator traces it to that original publication and finds no earlier source.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Verified quote & credit

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer” Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), ch. 3

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Zora Neale Hurston / HarperCollins Publishers). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Zora Neale Hurston — American novelist, folklorist & anthropologist. Theme: "There are years that ask questions and years that answer". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Work
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Author
Zora Neale Hurston
First published
1937 (J. B. Lippincott)
Location
Opening line of Chapter 3

There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask. Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?

The line opens Chapter 3, as Janie’s first marriage fails to bring the love she expected. Page numbers vary by edition (Quote Investigator cites p. 38; Wikiquote cites p. 21).

Quote Investigator: origin of the line

How we verified this

  • Quote Investigator concludes Hurston “deserves credit” and traces the wording to the 1937 first edition, Chapter 3.
  • Wikiquote lists it in its sourced Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) section, citing Ch. 3.
  • The line is one of the novel’s most quoted; it circulates widely on Goodreads and quotation sites, all crediting Hurston’s 1937 novel.
In copyright

Their Eyes Were Watching God was first published in 1937, so in the United States it remains under copyright. Rights are administered by the Estate of Zora Neale Hurston and its publisher, HarperCollins; the novel is not in the public domain.

Context

Why it resonates

In the novel, the line arrives as Janie’s idealized first marriage collapses into disappointment—a moment when experience, not instruction, becomes her teacher. Hurston frames whole seasons of a life as either questioning or answering, a rhythm readers recognize far beyond the book.

Lifted out of context, it reads as gentle life-wisdom, which is why it thrives on inspirational feeds. But unlike most such lines, this one is genuinely traceable to a real, dated, authored work.

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Time Wisdom

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: There Are Years That Ask Questionsquoteinvestigator.com

Traces the exact wording to Hurston’s 1937 novel, Chapter 3.
Wikiquote: Zora Neale Hurstonen.wikiquote.org

Sourced entry placing the line in Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Ch. 3.
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Goodreads)goodreads.com

The quote as widely circulated, credited to Hurston’s novel.
Zora Neale Hurston (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org

Biography of the author and the reception of her 1937 novel.
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org

Background, plot, and publication history of the 1937 novel.

The author

About Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston

1891–1960 · American novelist, folklorist & anthropologist

Zora Neale Hurston was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance and a trained anthropologist who collected African American and Caribbean folklore. Her best-known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), traces Janie Crawford’s search for selfhood and voice through three marriages in the rural South. Long out of print at her death in poverty, Hurston’s work was revived in the 1970s—championed by Alice Walker—and is now firmly in the American literary canon.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1937), ch. 3.

MLA (9th ed.)

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. J. B. Lippincott, 1937.

APA (7th ed.)

Hurston, Z. N. (1937). Their Eyes Were Watching God. J. B. Lippincott.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There are years that ask questions and years that answer’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-are-years-that-ask-questions-and-years-that-answer

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