--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's nothing so unreliable as figures…" description: "\"“There's nothing so unreliable as figures, and everybody but a mathematician knows that. Figures lie right to your face.”\" — Marjorie Benton Cooke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/marjorie-benton-cooke-51574_data_there-s-nothing-so-unreliable-as-figures_1325470.jpg" --- # There's nothing so unreliable as figures, and everybody… ![“There's nothing so unreliable as figures, and everybody but a mathematician knows that. Figures lie right to your face.” quote by Marjorie Benton Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/marjorie-benton-cooke-51574_data_there-s-nothing-so-unreliable-as-figures_1325470.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/marjorie-benton-cooke-51574_data_there-s-nothing-so-unreliable-as-figures_1325470.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/marjorie-benton-cooke-51574_data_there-s-nothing-so-unreliable-as-figures_1325470.jpg) > ““There's nothing so unreliable as figures, and everybody but a mathematician knows that. Figures lie right to your face.”” [Marjorie Benton Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-benton-cooke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Numbers can be deceptive; only experts see their limits. **In simple terms:** Figures can mislead. Key Takeaway Question data critically. Themes statistics trust expertise Mood skeptical analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - financial reports - scientific research - media analysis - policy making Key Concepts cognitive bias data literacy Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify numbers? - When should you trust a specialist? A Different Perspective Even experts can misinterpret; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Everybody Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody-mathematician-4431079/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Figures Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures-lie-2802336/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-figures-4431081/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematician Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician-knows-1673764/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Unreliable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreliable/) [Unreliable Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreliable-figures-4431080/) [Your face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-face/) ## Related quotes > [“One can’t say that figures lie. But figures, as used in financial arguments, seem to have the bad habit of expressing a small part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-schwed-jr/one-can-t-say-that-figures-lie-but-figures-as-used-in-financial/) [Fred Schwed Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-schwed-jr/) > [Figures never lie, but liars often figure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/figures-never-lie-but-liars-often-figure/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Indeed every mathematician knows that a proof has not been “understood” if one has done nothing more than verify step by step the correctness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indeed-every-mathematician-knows-that-a-proof-has-not-been-understood/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The mathematician knows some things, no doubt, but not those things one usually wants to get from him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-mathematician-knows-some-things-no-doubt-but-not-those-things-one/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [It is indubitable that a 50-year-old mathematician knows the mathematics he learned at 20 or 30, but has only notions, often rather vague, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dieudonne/it-is-indubitable-that-a-50-year-old-mathematician-knows-the/) [Jean Dieudonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dieudonne/) > [But instead, Democrats are so bent on seeing Republicans as a bunch of angry, right wing, intolerant, unreliable extremists that they have a track…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-fleischer/but-instead-democrats-are-so-bent-on-seeing-republicans-as-a-bunch-of/) [Ari Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-fleischer/) > [“Or, rather, you irritate everyone, Curdle. 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The Gospels are largely fiction. They were created around the turn of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-elleg-rd/i-argue-that-the-jesus-of-the-gospels-is-essentially-a-myth-the/) [Alvar Ellegård](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-elleg-rd/) > [I don't like working all hours of the night and having an unreliable working pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/i-don-t-like-working-all-hours-of-the-night-and-having-an-unreliable/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) ## More by Marjorie Benton Cooke > [creation, like vengeance, is God's. 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