Cheating Quote by Alexander McCall Smith
““But remember, that for every cheating wife in Botswana, there are five hundred and fifty cheating husbands." Mma Makutsi whistled. "That is an amazing figure," she said. "Where did you read that?" "Nowhere," chuckled Mma Ramotswe. "I made it up. But that doesn't stop it from being true.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, 1998
Statistical claims can be fabricated yet feel true if they resonate with existing beliefs.
In simple terms: Made‑up stats can seem real if they match expectations.
Key Takeaway
Question data sources critically.
Themes
statistics
truth
perception
storytelling
Mood
skeptical
humorous
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- detective work
- casual conversation
- media analysis
Key Concepts
cognitive bias
social proof
humor
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we accept numbers without verification?
- How does humor affect belief in false statistics?
A Different Perspective
Reliance on false data undermines credibility.
![“Everything, all those great things, had happened so far away--or so it seemed to [Mma Ramotswe] at the time. The world was made to sound as if it belonged to other people--to those who lived in distant countries that were so different from Botswana; that was before people had learned to assert…” quote by Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1a3/alexander-mccall-smith-372_africa_everything-all-those-great-things-had-ha_2150106.jpg)
