On Numbers: The Power of Numbers II

“All things which can be known have number; for it is not possible that without number anything can be either conceived or known.” (Philolaus)

“Whenever a man can get hold of numbers, they are invaluable: if correct, they assist in informing his own mind, but they are still more useful in deluding the minds of others. Numbers are the masters of the weak, but the slaves of the strong.” (Charles Babbage, “Passages From the Life of a Philosopher”, 1864)

“Although he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers.” (Nicholas Eberstadt)

“Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other woof. It is no more important to count the sands than it is to name the stars.” (Norton Juster, “The Phantom Tollbooth”, 1989)

“Numbers, in fact, are the atoms of the universe, combining with everything else.” (Calvin C Clawson, Mathematical Mysteries: The Beauty and Magic of Numbers”, 1996)

“There is no inquiry which is not finally reducible to a question of Numbers; for there is none which may not be conceived of as consisting in the determination of quantities by each other, according to certain relations.” (Auguste Comte)

“Numbers have undoubted powers to beguile and benumb, but critics must probe behind numbers to the character of arguments and the biases that motivate them.” (Stephen Jay Gould, “An Urchin in the Storm: Essays About Books and Ideas”, 1987)

“[…] a single number has more genuine and permanent value than an expensive library full of hypotheses.” (Robert Mayer, [Letter to Griesinger], 1844)

“Numbers have souls, and you can’t help but get involved with them in a personal way.” (Paul Auster, “The Music of Chance”, 1990)

“You can be moved to tears by numbers - provided they are encoded and decoded fast enough.” (Richard Dawkins, “River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life”, 1995)

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