Publications

I found the source of the quotation that posted to KDuggets and to which nobody replied. Here are several differing versions of the quotation. There is so much deviation, in fact, that I am now motivated to look up the book quoted in several of them and see what the man actually did write!

Ross Bettinger

Public agencies are very keen on amassing statistics - they collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But what you must never forget is that every one of those figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman, who just puts down what he damn pleases." - Sir Josiah Stamp

The government is very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman, who just puts down what he **** well pleases. Josiah Charles Stamp 1st Baron of Shortlands 1880-1941

The government [is] extremely fond of amassing great quantities of statistics. These are raised to the nth degree, the cube roots are extracted, and the results are arranged into elaborate and impressive displays. What must be kept ever in mind, however, is that in every case, the figures are first put down by a village watchman, and he puts down anything he damn well pleases. Sir Josiah Stamp

Sir Josiah Stamp (1940): "The government are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root, and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman, who just puts down what he damn pleases."

The following is a quote from Sir Josiah Stamp (1896 - 1919) who was Head of the Inland Revenue Department of the UK.

The Government are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power; take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman who puts down what he damn well pleases.

The government [is] extremely fond of amassing great quantities of statistics. These are raised to the nth degree, the cube roots are extracted, and the results are arranged into elaborate and impressive displays. What must be kept ever in mind, however, is that in every case, the figures are first put down by a village watchman, and he puts down anything he damn well pleases. -- Sir Josiah Stamp

"The government are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, add them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that everyone of these figures comes in the first instance from the village watchman, who just puts down what he damn well pleases." Anonymous, Quoted in Sir Josiah Stamp, Some Economic Factors in Modern Life

The government ministries are very keen on amassing statistics. They collect them, raise them to the nth power, take the cube root, and prepare wonderful diagrams. But you must never forget that every one of these figures comes in the first place from the village watchman, who just puts down what he damn well pleases. Attributed to Sir Josiah Stamp, an English economist of the early 20th century