Statistic Quote by Georg Dreyman
““The state office for statistics on Hans-Beimler street counts everything; knows everything: how many pairs of shoes I buy a year: 2.3, how many books I read a year: 3.2 and how many students graduate with perfect marks: 6,347. But there's one statistic that isn't collected there, perhaps because such numbers cause even paper-pushers pain: and that is the suicide rate.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Man in the High Castle, 1962
Statistics capture many aspects of life, yet some crucial human experiences, like suicide, elude quantification.
In simple terms: Numbers miss the deepest pains.
Key Takeaway
Recognize limits of data.
Themes
statistics
privacy
human suffering
Mood
somber
reflective
Type
literary
social commentary
When to use this quote
- public health policy
- mental health services
- social research
- government reporting
Key Concepts
Data collection
ethical blind spots
Questions to Reflect On
- What vital human aspects are left unmeasured?
- How can we responsibly address unseen suffering?
A Different Perspective
Data may be incomplete or misused.
![“We’ve done these mental-health assessment team studies for six years now—between nine and twelve [months] is where a lot of the stress problems really manifest themselves, where the family problems really manifest themselves,” former Army chief of staff George Casey said recently. “The human mind…” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d31/rachel-maddow-1240_chief-of-staff_we-ve-done-these-mental-health-assessmen_2553601.jpg)
