lies, dam lies and statistics

[mollykins]

Who said, 'There are three kinds of lies, lies, dam lies and statistics'?

[NazNomad]

Mark Twain

[tiggerblue10]

Mark Twain?

[NazNomad]

... who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

[NazNomad]

Strange that you might type the whole phrase in here instead of Google?

[tiggerblue10]

Actually it may have been Benjamin Disraeli first.

[mollykins]

I got confused with the different things that google said, some sites said Twain some said Disraeli. Possibly dpeends on the wording of what you type in.

[tiggerblue10]

Maybe Molly is testing us.

[Davethedog]

Thin ice people, thin ice if you google it you will also find that Benjamine Disraeli also credited for it.

I had this question in a pub quiz years ago and said Twain answer was given as Disraeli, I went up in arms, but the internet is not definitive. I wrote to "letters to the correspondants" in the Mail and got it published but nobody could give a one name answer.

So good luck.

[dr b]

Having just read Mark Twain's autobiography, I can state that Twain definitely attributes it to Disraeli.

[mollykins]

Thanks Dr B, definately an autobiography? not a biography of someone whose confused?

[dr b]

"The Autobiography of Mark Twain." page 298. "Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

[dr b]

A footnote goes on to say, "This remark was first attributed to ... Disraeli in the London Times on 27 July 1895."

[Davethedog]

Molly from Wikipedia so pinch of salt but

The term was popularised in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881): "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." However, the phrase is not found in any of Disraeli's works and the earliest known appearances were years after his death. Other coiners have therefore been proposed. The most plausible, given current evidence, is Englishman Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911).[

[Davethedog]

Link sorry

http://en.wikipedia.o..._lies,_and_statistics

[mollykins]

I'd be more likely to believe his autobiography than wiki . . . .

[dr b]

I'm only saying that Twain did not originate the saying, not that Disraeli did.

[Davethedog]

Molly

Read the article or google it. Twain attributes it, but there is no evidence to support it. The only thing in history that says Disraeli said it is,Twain.

As I said a little research shows there is no definative answer.

[jno]

Mark Twain's autobiography has only just been published - he wrote it but ordered it to be held until 100 years after his death (in 1910). He was clear that he didn't invent the phrase but he wasn't trying to track down the real inventor.

[WELSHYORKIE]

My Boss!!!