[Ads-l] Saying: There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Thu Jun 23 17:03:50 UTC 2022


The saying in the subject line has been discussed on this list several
times in past years. Now, the Quote Investigator website has an
article on the topic. Thanks to the list members who provided help.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/06/22/lies-statistics/

[Begin acknowledgment]
Great thanks to Simon Lancaster, Tom Darais, Richard Vaughn, Sharon
Ishika Ghose, Stuart Firestein, Jeff Braemer, Edward Banatt, Michael
Vinegrad whose inquiries and remarks led QI to formulate this question
and perform this exploration. As mentioned previously QI owes a debt
of gratitude to researchers Stephen Goranson and Peter M. Lee who
located many of the citations mentioned above. Thanks to Laurence Horn
who told QI about the connection to Thomas Aquinas. Thanks to Nigel
Rees whose 2013 newsletter mentioned the 1895 attribution to Disraeli.
Additional thanks to Jesse Sheidlower and Grant Barrett who accessed
and verified the 1891 citation in “The National Observer”. Also,
thanks to Grant Barrett who verified the 1891 citation in “The Preston
Herald”.
[End acknowledgement]

Feedback welcome
Garson

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