--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The best thing about being a statistician…" description: "\"The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.\" — John Tukey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png" --- # The best thing about being a statistician is that you get… ![“The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.” quote by John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png) > “The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.” [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Statisticians can apply their skills across many fields, making their work versatile and collaborative. **In simple terms:** Statisticians work in many areas. Key Takeaway Embrace interdisciplinary opportunities. Themes versatility collaboration data science Mood enthusiastic curious Type professional inspirational When to use this quote - research - policy analysis - business intelligence - public health - sports analytics Key Concepts statistics interdisciplinary methods applied math Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance breadth with depth? - Which field excites you most? A Different Perspective May lack depth in specialized domains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Analytics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analytics/) [Best things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-things/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Statistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statistics/) ## Related quotes > [It would be awesome to play in my backyard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-barty/it-would-be-awesome-to-play-in-my-backyard/) [Ashleigh Barty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-barty/) > [The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-combination-of-some-data-and-an-aching-desire-for-an-answer-does/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [Do not trust any statistics you did not fake yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/do-not-trust-any-statistics-you-did-not-fake-yourself/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians, and I'm not kidding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-varian/i-keep-saying-that-the-sexy-job-in-the-next-10-years-will-be/) [Hal Varian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-varian/) > [Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-e-p-box/statisticians-like-artists-have-the-bad-habit-of-falling-in-love-with/) [George E. P. Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-e-p-box/) > [Football, you can go out and buy a football and play it in your backyard. Basketball, you can go out and play it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-roenick/football-you-can-go-out-and-buy-a-football-and-play-it-in-your/) [Jeremy Roenick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-roenick/) > [My parents were kind of over protective people. Me and my sister had to play in the backyard all the time. They bought us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/my-parents-were-kind-of-over-protective-people-me-and-my-sister-had-2/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [In the summer, I would play street hockey every day with my cousins and my brothers. And in the winter we'd play on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-thornton/in-the-summer-i-would-play-street-hockey-every-day-with-my-cousins/) [Joe Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-thornton/) > [All we know about the world teaches us that the effects of A and B are always different-in some decimal place-for any A and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/all-we-know-about-the-world-teaches-us-that-the-effects-of-a-and-b/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [One of my favorite ways to easily review results is Google Analytics Dashboards. Don't have dashboards set up? I can help you set one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/one-of-my-favorite-ways-to-easily-review-results-is-google-analytics/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [This is my favorite part about analytics: Taking boring flat data and bringing it to life through visualization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/this-is-my-favorite-part-about-analytics-taking-boring-flat-data-and/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [The average family exists only on paper and its average budget is a fiction, invented by statisticians for the convenience of statisticians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-porter/the-average-family-exists-only-on-paper-and-its-average-budget-is-a/) [Sylvia Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-porter/) > [ I have learned more \[from Balzac\] than from all the professional historians, economists, and statisticians put together. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/i-have-learned-more-from-balzac-than-from-all-the-professional/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [The only useful function of a statistician is to make predictions, and thus to provide a basis for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/the-only-useful-function-of-a-statistician-is-to-make-predictions-and/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [The statistician cannot evade the responsibility for understanding the process he applies or recommends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-statistician-cannot-evade-the-responsibility-for-understanding/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) ## More by John Tukey > [When communicating results to non-technical types there is nothing better than a clear visualization to make your point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/when-communicating-results-to-non-technical-types-there-is-nothing/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [Be approximately right rather than exactly wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/be-approximately-right-rather-than-exactly-wrong/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [In a single sentence the moral is: admit that complexity always increases, first from the model you fit to the data, thence to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/in-a-single-sentence-the-moral-is-admit-that-complexity-always/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-combination-of-some-data-and-an-aching-desire-for-an-answer-does/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [I know of no person or group that is taking nearly adequate advantage of the graphical potentialities of the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/i-know-of-no-person-or-group-that-is-taking-nearly-adequate-advantage/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [All we know about the world teaches us that the effects of A and B are always different-in some decimal place-for any A and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/all-we-know-about-the-world-teaches-us-that-the-effects-of-a-and-b/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [Visualization is often used for evil - twisting insignificant data changes and making them look meaningful. Don't do that crap if you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/visualization-is-often-used-for-evil-twisting-insignificant-data/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [It's better to solve the right problem approximately than to solve the wrong problem exactly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/it-s-better-to-solve-the-right-problem-approximately-than-to-solve/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [One of my favorite ways to easily review results is Google Analytics Dashboards. Don't have dashboards set up? I can help you set one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/one-of-my-favorite-ways-to-easily-review-results-is-google-analytics/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [There is no data that can be displayed in a pie chart, that cannot be displayed BETTER in some other type of chart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/there-is-no-data-that-can-be-displayed-in-a-pie-chart-that-cannot-be/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than the exact answer to the wrong question, which can always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/far-better-an-approximate-answer-to-the-right-question-which-is-often/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [If we are going to make a mark (key 21), it might as well be a meaningful one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/if-we-are-going-to-make-a-mark-key-21-it-might-as-well-be-a/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [To be able to say that "if we change our point of view in the following way ... things are simpler" is always a gain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/to-be-able-to-say-that-if-we-change-our-point-of-view-in-the/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [Numerical quantities focus on expected values, graphical summaries on unexpected values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/numerical-quantities-focus-on-expected-values-graphical-summaries-on/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) > [This is my favorite part about analytics: Taking boring flat data and bringing it to life through visualization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/this-is-my-favorite-part-about-analytics-taking-boring-flat-data-and/) [John Tukey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) [Explore all 18 John Tukey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/) ## More Analytics quotes > [Every NBA arena has six cameras in the ceiling. The question is what does the software do with video feeds? How to surface that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ballmer/every-nba-arena-has-six-cameras-in-the-ceiling-the-question-is-what/) [Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ballmer/) > [In my view, we ought to replace the notion of analytic philosophy by that of synthetic philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/in-my-view-we-ought-to-replace-the-notion-of-analytic-philosophy-by/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The female mind is capable of understanding analytic geometry... The difficulty may just be that we have never yet discovered a way to communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-female-mind-is-capable-of-understanding-analytic-geometry-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You can keep the Office of Personnel Management records, I don't need Electronic Health Records, give me the metadata, big data analytics and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-scott-senior-fellow-institute-for-critical-infrastructure-technology/you-can-keep-the-office-of-personnel-management-records-i-don-t-need/) James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology > [...(I)ndividual selfhood is expressed in the self's capacity for self-transcendence and not in its rational capacity for conceptual and analytic procedures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/i-ndividual-selfhood-is-expressed-in-the-self-s-capacity-for-self/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything. The person of synthetic or constructive intellect, in almost nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-person-of-analytic-or-critical-intellect-finds-something/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is what makes conscious of the conditions and laws of observing which applied in this manner become a theme on its own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoni-tapies/it-is-what-makes-conscious-of-the-conditions-and-laws-of-observing/) [Antoni Tapies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoni-tapies/) > [The price of light is less than the cost of darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-price-of-light-is-less-than-the-cost-of-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Euler - The unsurpassed master of analytic invention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-courant/euler-the-unsurpassed-master-of-analytic-invention/) [Richard Courant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-courant/) > [Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-e-p-box/statisticians-like-artists-have-the-bad-habit-of-falling-in-love-with/) [George E. P. Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-e-p-box/) > [The principles of logic and mathematics are true universally simply because we never allow them to be anything else. And the reason for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/the-principles-of-logic-and-mathematics-are-true-universally-simply/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Science is the ultimate pornography, analytic activity whose main aim is to isolate objects or events from their contexts in time and space. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/science-is-the-ultimate-pornography-analytic-activity-whose-main-aim/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An individual's ability to draw is... the ability to shift to a different-from-ordinary way of processing visual information - to shift from verbal, analytic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-edwards/an-individual-s-ability-to-draw-is-the-ability-to-shift-to-a/) [Betty Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-edwards/) > [Photography is inherently an analytic discipline. Where a painter starts with a blank canvas and builds a picture, a photographer starts with the messiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-shore/photography-is-inherently-an-analytic-discipline-where-a-painter/) [Stephen Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-shore/) > [A function of a variable quantity is an analytic expression composed in any way whatsoever of the variable quantity and numbers or constant quantities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonhard-euler/a-function-of-a-variable-quantity-is-an-analytic-expression-composed/) [Leonhard Euler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonhard-euler/) [Browse all 105 Analytics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analytics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Tukey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-best-thing-about-being-a-statistician-is-that-you-get-to-play-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Analytics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-best-thing-about-being-a-statistician-is-that-you-get-to-play-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/john-tukey-29915_analytics_the-best-thing-about-being-a-statisticia_1116716.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.” — John Tukey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Tukey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tukey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The best thing about being a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-best-thing-about-being-a-statistician-is-that-you-get-to-play-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tukey/the-best-thing-about-being-a-statistician-is-that-you-get-to-play-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```