Quotes about Statistics

The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself.

Statistics are like a drunk with a lampost: used more for support than illumination.

The truth is that others judge us. More than that, they evaluate the truth of the Gospel by what they see of our lives and our integrity. [We] must make every effort to be above all suspicion in the matter of finances and statistics. We are not only accountable to God's people, but also to our Master (see Acts 24:16).

That's nearly 600 pounds for every person in the country. And we're not even the biggest consumers of the stuff—that would be China, which installed more concrete in the first 16 years of the 21st century than the United States did in the entire 20th century!

Getting all the world's electricity from clean sources won't be easy. Today, fossil fuels account for two-thirds of all electricity generated worldwide. (bp Statistical Review of World Energy 2020)

Nuclear power kills far, far fewer people than cars do. For that matter, it kills far fewer people than any fossil fuel.

The actual number of atheists is quite small outside of Europe and Manhattan.

While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will be up to, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant. So says the statistician.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Crime is common. Logic is rare.

Statistics show that we lose more fools on this day than in all the other days of the year put together. This proves, by the number left in stock, that one Fourth of July per year is now inadequate, the country has grown so. - Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

Even though the risks of death are higher driving than flying, many people would rather drive simply because they feel they have more control driving. The facts are that only a few hundred people die a year flying, and 44,000 are killed a year driving.