Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!
insanecanadian · 4838 days ago · link · · parent · post: Statistical numbing: Why millions can die and we don't care
I think that the Stalin quote meantioned in this post puts it perfectly: "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."
Thanks for an interesting read!
I was thinking the same thing about that quote. Your comment reminded me of it, thanks, so I tried to find the original context. And apparently it wasn't Stalin who said it. Ouch! According to Wikiquote, it's from "Französischer Witz" (1932) by Kurt Tucholsky. Translated to English:
The war? I can't find it too terrible! The death of one man: that is a catastrophe. One hundred thousand deaths: that is a statistic!
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Misattributed
–