[net.misc] More on Lies, Damn lies, etc.

bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys) (06/09/84)

For what it is worth:

In his very interesting book, "How to Lie with Statistics" (W. W. Norton 1954),
Darrell Huff attributes the quotation "There are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies, and statistics" to Disraeli.

Whether the attribution is correct or not, the book is required reading for
anyone who wants to avoid being bamboozled by statistical sophistry.
-- 

	Bill Jefferys  8-%
	Astronomy Dept, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712   (USnail)
	{ihnp4,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!utastro!bill   (uucp)
	utastro!bill@ut-ngp			   (ARPANET)

marcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (06/12/84)

<one for you and the rest for me...>

The international Thesaurus of Quotations, Rhoda Thomas Tripp, Penguin 1970,
has that
	"There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies and statistics."
comes from Mark Twain's Autobiography (1924), v.1, ed. A.B. Paine.

		Marcus Hand	(pyuxt!marcus)

leif@erix.UUCP (Leif Samuelsson) (06/12/84)

I vote for Mark Twain, not because I know it was him, but
because he was an interesting person.

Now, if we all vote for him the magic of statistics will
make it true, right?


	Leif Samuelsson

	..{decvax, philabs}!mcvax!enea!erix!leif