Statistics

The Top 10 Quotations about Statistics

As well as keeping your audience engaged, adding quotations to a speech or a text can significantly enhance its impact and effectiveness. Quotations are useful for explaining complex ideas concisely, much in the same way that analogies are used. Additionally, quotations from experts or celebrities can add credibility to your message.

Here are some funny and poignant quotations about statistics. If your speech is serious, do not automatically avoid funny quotations as they can often be the most impactful, forcing your audience into the thinking about the hidden analogous message in your selected quotation.

"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." (British actor Peter Ustinov)
"When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth." (Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw)

If you are looking to make a fuller speech about statistics, then below this selection of quotations are three funny themes and three serious themes on the topic of statistics that might help trigger some ideas for your speech or text.

TOP TIPFind the accepted wisdom that proves your pointthen prepare to win.

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

Benjamin Disraeli (British Tory statesman and novelist, 1804-81)

Statistics are like *bikinis.*stories.*hats.* What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

Aaron Levenstein (American academic, 1911-86)

If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment.

Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand physicist, 1871-1937)

*Torture*Add up*Play with* numbers, and they'll confess to anything.

Gregg Easterbrook (American writer, 1953-)

Statistics: the only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.

Evan Esar (American humorist, 1899-1995)

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.

Mark Twain (American writer, 1835-1910)

Statistics are the triumph of the quantitative method, and the quantitative method is the victory of sterility and death.

Hilaire Belloc (British writer and Liberal politician, 1870-1953)

The only thing worse than a statistician is a politician who uses *statistics.*people.*drugs.*

Tom Stoppard (British dramatist, 1937-)

Statistics are no substitute for judgment.

Henry Clay (American politician, 1777-1852)

Statistics are like a puzzle, and it's up to us to put the pieces together.

Stephen Covey (American businessman, 1932-2012)

The War Office kept three sets of figures: one to mislead the public, another to mislead the Cabinet, and the third to mislead itself.

Herbert Asquith (British Liberal statesman, 1852-1928)

He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts – for *support*fun*nothing* rather than illumination.

Andrew Lang (Scottish man of letters, 1844-1912)

Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

Aaron Levenstein (American academic, 1911-86)

SOME INSPIRATION

Thinking Template for a Speech or Text on Statistics

Below are 3 funny themes and 3 serious themes related to statistics. These have been included to help you identify areas to explore.

Funny Themes:

Statistical Shenanigans: Hilarious Misinterpretations and Misuses
- Share amusing anecdotes or stories about funny misinterpretations or misuses of statistics, from bizarre correlations to humorous statistical blunders.
Numbers Gone Wrong: The Funniest Mathematical Miscalculations
- Explore humorous scenarios or anecdotes involving mathematical errors or funny miscalculations in statistical analysis.
Data Drama: The Most Entertainingly Strange Statistical Findings
- Discuss comical or peculiar statistical findings or research studies, highlighting unusual correlations or unexpected results in data analysis.

Serious Themes:

The Importance of Data: Accuracy, Interpretation, and Decision-Making
- Explore the significance of accurate data collection, interpretation, and its role in informed decision-making across various fields.
Ethical Use of Statistics: Integrity, Bias, and Transparency
- Discuss ethical considerations in statistical research and reporting, addressing issues of bias, transparency, and responsible data use.
Statistics in Research: Methods, Applications, and Impact
- Explore the methods and applications of statistics in research, discussing its role in advancing knowledge, solving problems, and shaping public policy.