Quotations

George Udny Yule

Measurement does not necessarily mean progress. Failing the possibility of measuring that which you desire, the lust for measurement may, for example, merely result in your measuring something else - and perhaps forgetting the difference - or in your ignoring some things because they cannot be measured.
In a letter to Maurice Kendall

Isn't it extraordinary how difficult it is to get a sample really random? Every possible precaution, as it may seem, sometimes fails to protect one. I remember Greenwood telling me that, in some experiments done by drawing different coloured counters from a bag, there seemed to be a bias against one particular colour. On testing, they concluded that this colour had given the counters a slightly greasy surface, so that it tended to escape the sampler's fingers ...
In a letter to Maurice Kendall