--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whether we like it or not, quantification…" description: "\"Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is here to stay for reasons which the quantifiers themselves might not actively approve. We are be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/j-h-plumb-75181_approval_whether-we-like-it-or-not-quantification_2825233.png" --- # Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is… ![“Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is here to stay for reasons which the quantifiers themselves might not actively approve. We are becoming a numerate society: almost instinctively there seems now to be a greater degree of truth in evidence expressed numerically than in any…” quote by J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/j-h-plumb-75181_approval_whether-we-like-it-or-not-quantification_2825233.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/j-h-plumb-75181_approval_whether-we-like-it-or-not-quantification_2825233.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/j-h-plumb-75181_approval_whether-we-like-it-or-not-quantification_2825233.png) > “Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is here to stay for reasons which the quantifiers themselves might not actively approve. We are becoming a numerate society: almost instinctively there seems now to be a greater degree of truth in evidence expressed numerically than in any literary evidence, no matter how shaky the statistical evidence, or acute the observing eye.” [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Quantification dominates modern historical analysis, often being trusted more than narrative evidence, even when statistical methods are imperfect. **In simple terms:** Numbers are trusted over stories in history. Key Takeaway Question data, but also scrutinize its limits. Themes history statistics truth trust methodology Mood critical analytical skeptical Type observational analytical philosophical When to use this quote - Academic research - policy making - media reporting - education - public discourse Key Concepts Epistemology data bias interpretive frameworks Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance quantitative and qualitative evidence? - When might numbers obscure truth? A Different Perspective Statistical data can be misleading if context is ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approval/) [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Like Quantification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-quantification-3618978/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Numerically Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numerically-literary-3618977/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Observing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observing/) [Quantification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantification-3419750/) [Quantification History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantification-history-3618976/) [Quantifiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantifiers-3618979/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“All quantification begets cessation or elimination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-harglesis/all-quantification-begets-cessation-or-elimination/) [Andy Harglesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-harglesis/) > [Strategic management is not a box of tricks or a bundle of techniques. It is analytical thinking and commitment of resources to action. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/strategic-management-is-not-a-box-of-tricks-or-a-bundle-of-techniques/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Happiness quantification sounds a bit wishy-washy, sure, and through a series of carefully administered surveys across the globe, economists and psychologists have certainly confronted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-davidson/happiness-quantification-sounds-a-bit-wishy-washy-sure-and-through-a/) [Adam Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-davidson/) > [I was very quiet around my family, always observing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefanos-tsitsipas/i-was-very-quiet-around-my-family-always-observing/) [Stefanos Tsitsipas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefanos-tsitsipas/) > [I spent my entire childhood observing people. I still do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/i-spent-my-entire-childhood-observing-people-i-still-do/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [If you're just letting the time pass at your job, it's just dead time and you'll never get it back. If at that job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/if-you-re-just-letting-the-time-pass-at-your-job-it-s-just-dead-time/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [No one familiar with the common law of England can read the Constitution of the United States without observing the great desire of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-freeman-miller/no-one-familiar-with-the-common-law-of-england-can-read-the/) [Samuel Freeman Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-freeman-miller/) > [The Bible is to us what the star was to the wise men; but if we spend all our time in gazing upon it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-adams/the-bible-is-to-us-what-the-star-was-to-the-wise-men-but-if-we-spend/) [Thomas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-adams/) > [Some theists, observing that all 'effects' need a cause, assert that God is a cause but not an effect. But no one has ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barker/some-theists-observing-that-all-effects-need-a-cause-assert-that-god/) [Dan Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barker/) > [If you live with a single parent, you don't see compromise. You witness a grown person living in a world where they do what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/if-you-live-with-a-single-parent-you-don-t-see-compromise-you-witness/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [I pretend no originality in observing that mass education was motivated in part by the perceived need to "educate them to keep them from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-pretend-no-originality-in-observing-that-mass-education-was/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/many-are-observing-ferguson-and-witnessing-the-anger-demonstrations/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [I love reading people. I really enjoy watching, observing, and being able to figure out a person, the reason they wore that dress, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rihanna/i-love-reading-people-i-really-enjoy-watching-observing-and-being/) [Rihanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rihanna/) > [I think that, in the end, the military behavior and intelligence services are not very different from each other. It's an attitude of hunters;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-ramirez/i-think-that-in-the-end-the-military-behavior-and-intelligence/) [Edgar Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-ramirez/) > [“Observing is not just seeing. It is watching with attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilchi-lee/observing-is-not-just-seeing-it-is-watching-with-attention/) [Ilchi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilchi-lee/) ## More by J. H. Plumb > [The past has always been the handmaid of authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-plumb/the-past-has-always-been-the-handmaid-of-authority/) [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) > [History is now strictly organized, powerfully disciplined, but it possesses only a modest educational value and even less conscious social purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-plumb/history-is-now-strictly-organized-powerfully-disciplined-but-it/) [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) [Explore all 3 J. H. Plumb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) ## More Approval quotes > [Anyone who's read my 'Terror in the Skies' series knows that I have not been writing with an eye toward approval from any government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-jacobsen/anyone-who-s-read-my-terror-in-the-skies-series-knows-that-i-have-not/) [Annie Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-jacobsen/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Lean too much on the approval of people, and it becomes a bed of thorns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tehyi-hsieh/lean-too-much-on-the-approval-of-people-and-it-becomes-a-bed-of-thorns/) [Tehyi Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tehyi-hsieh/) > [But I always reassure them that as far as my contractual rights can go, I will protect them and make sure that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-roach/but-i-always-reassure-them-that-as-far-as-my-contractual-rights-can/) [Jay Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-roach/) > [Growing up in that fashion is a breeding ground for insecurity and doubt; it also leaves you questioning motives. It took me a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-runyon/growing-up-in-that-fashion-is-a-breeding-ground-for-insecurity-and/) [Damon Runyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-runyon/) > [A year ago, my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the supreme court had just withdrawn, and my vice president had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/a-year-ago-my-approval-rating-was-in-the-30s-my-nominee-for-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Approval is a greater motivator than disapproval, but we have to disapprove on occasion when we correct. It’s necessary. I make corrections only after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/approval-is-a-greater-motivator-than-disapproval-but-we-have-to/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [These days people are mean to people just because they don't like the way they look. No-one should be hated because of their flaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/these-days-people-are-mean-to-people-just-because-they-don-t-like-the/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [My dad taught me swears when I was a toddler, and I saw, at a really early age, that if I shocked people, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/my-dad-taught-me-swears-when-i-was-a-toddler-and-i-saw-at-a-really/) [Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/) > [If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous numbers of lives, it ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/if-torture-is-going-to-be-administered-as-a-last-resort-in-the/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Comedy is a very approval-oriented field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-chappelle/comedy-is-a-very-approval-oriented-field/) [Dave Chappelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-chappelle/) > [Whenever you are too worried about someone else's approval, that person loses respect for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-argov/whenever-you-are-too-worried-about-someone-else-s-approval-that/) [Sherry Argov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-argov/) > [Pleasure is Nature's test, her sign of approval.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/pleasure-is-nature-s-test-her-sign-of-approval/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Do you really mean the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward? That's not morality, that's just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/do-you-really-mean-the-only-reason-you-try-to-be-good-is-to-gain-god/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Browse all 904 Approval quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approval/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is here to stay for reasons which the quantifiers themselves might not actively approve. We are becoming a numerate society: almost instinctively there seems now to be a greater degree of truth in evidence expressed numerically than in any literary evidence, no matter how shaky the statistical evidence, or acute the observing eye.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. H. 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