On Statistics (Trivia)

"Statistics are like the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, where the lessons of history, the precepts of wisdom, and the secrets of the future were concealed in mysterious characters." (Moreau de Jonnes, "Elements of Statistics", 1856)

"A knowledge of statistics is like a knowledge of foreign languages or of algebra; it may prove of use at any time under any circumstances." (Sir Arthur L Bowley, "Elements of Statistics", 1901)

"I shall try not to use statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts, for support rather than for illumination;" (Andrew Lang [paraphrased in (Francis Yeats-Brown, "Lancer at Large", 1937)])

"Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write." (Samuel S Wilks 1951) [paraphrasing Herbert G Wells]

"[…] statistical techniques are tools of thought, and not substitutes for thought." (Abraham Kaplan, "The Conduct of Inquiry", 1964)

"The manipulation of statistical formulas is no substitute for knowing what one is doing." (Hubert M Blalock Jr., "Social Statistics" 2nd Ed., 1972)

"It is all too easy to notice the statistical sea that supports our thoughts and actions. If that sea loses its buoyancy, it may take a long time to regain the lost support." (William Kruskal, "Coordination Today: A Disaster or a Disgrace", The American Statistician, Vol. 37, No. 3, 1983)

"’Common sense’ is not common but needs to [be] learnt systematically […]. A ‘simple analysis’ can be harder than it looks […]. All statistical techniques, however sophisticated, should be subordinate to subjective judgment." (Christopher Chatfield, "The Initial Examination of Data", Journal of The Royal Statistical Society, Series A, Vol. 148, 1985)

"Statistics as a science is to quantify uncertainty, not unknown." (Chamont Wang, "Sense and Nonsense of Statistical Inference: Controversy, Misuse, and Subtlety", 1993)

"Statistics is a field of probabilities and sometimes probabilities do not go the way we want." (Jordan Morrow, "Be Data Literate: The data literacy skills everyone needs to succeed", 2021)

"A judicious man uses statistics, not to get knowledge, but to save himself from having ignorance foisted upon him." (Thomas Carlyle)

"Do not put faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say." (William W Watt)

"[Statistics are] the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of Man." (Sir Ronald A F Galton)

"The application of efficient statistical procedure has power, but the application of common sense has more." (Jasper Wall)