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Round numbers are always false.
Samuel Johnson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Round numbers do not represent the complexities of reality.

This quote by Samuel Johnson suggests that simplifying things into round numbers can lead to inaccuracies. It implies that true understanding requires a recognition of the nuances and details that are often lost when we impose neat, simple categories onto complex realities.

Themes

NumbersTruthRealityPerceptionComplexity

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about statistics, one might say, 'As Samuel Johnson wisely noted, round numbers are always false.'

More from Samuel Johnson

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
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He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
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To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
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Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
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When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
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A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
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A little wisdom, now and then

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