Skip to content

Data Quote by Mark Twain

“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” quote by Mark Twain — Download Open image

“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.”

About This Quote

Source At: "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg", 1900

Statistics can be manipulated to mislead, making false statements appear credible.

In simple terms: Numbers can be twisted to lie.

Key Takeaway

Question data sources critically.

Themes

statistics deception truth

Mood

skeptical inquisitive

Type

educational cautionary

When to use this quote

political debate
marketing claims
academic research

Key Concepts

critical thinking media literacy

Questions to Reflect On

How do you verify statistical claims?
What are common tricks in data presentation?

A Different Perspective

Statistical literacy is required to spot misuse.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.4 out of 5 (4 ratings)

Damned Lies Data Lies Lies And Statistics Lies Damned Lies Statistics Statistics

More by Mark Twain

Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.

Image

If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…

Image

“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…

Image

It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.

Image

“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”

Image

A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…

Image

There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.

Image

I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…

Image

The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…

Image

“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…

Image

Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.

Image

Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…

Image

Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes

More Data quotes

Information is money, but data is squat

Angela Llama-Butler

Image

“ data analytics consulting Perceptive Analtyics is a data analytic company and a trusted advisor to its clients across domains. Click to know more”

Image

The information nation took their clues from all the sound bite gluttons.

Image

Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…

Image

But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…

Clayton Christensen

Image

Statistics are like miniskirts: They give you good ideas but hide the important things.

Image

Unlike return, however, risk is no more quantifiable at the end of an investment that it was at its beginning. Risk simply cannot be…

Image

Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…

Image

[Brazil] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data…

Image

We're living in a technological world. You cannot tell me we can't do a better job getting that information.

Hillary Clinton

Image

Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.

Tim Berners-Lee

Image

You cannot have 300-some million Americans - and really, right, the global citizenry be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a…

Image

Browse all 3,134 Data quotes