A Poem For Today - A Word on Statistics

[kdick...@aol.com]

A word on statistics 

 

Out of every hundred people

those who always know better:

fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:

nearly all the rest.

Ready to help,

as long as it doesn't take long:

forty-nine.

Always good,

because they cannot be otherwise:

four--well, maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:

eighteen.

Led to error

by youth (which passes):

sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:

forty and four.

Living in constant fear

of someone or something:

seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:

twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,

turning savage in crowds:

more than half, for sure.

Cruel

when forced by circumstances:

it's better not to know

not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:

not many more

than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life but things:

thirty

(although I would like to be wrong).

Doubled over in pain,

without a flashlight in the dark:

eighty-three,

sooner or later.

Those who are just:

quite a few at thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:

three.

Worthy of empathy:

ninety-nine.

Mortal:

one hundred out of one hundred--

a figure that has never varied yet.

- Wislawa Szymborski

(from the collection Miracle Fair, translated by Joanna Trzeciak)

[Kurt Heyl]

Good poems everyday, 99% of the time

Thanks to Ken

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[Isabel Torres-Carrilho]

i second that!

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[albert haas]

Thanks, Ken. I love this one. These are the kind of statistics I wish I had studied in college.

Al

On Feb 21, 2026, at 9:52 AM, 'kdick...@aol.com' via A Poem For Today <po...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



[John Jai Conley]

Our thanks are numberless, Ken, Wislawa.

Jai

The way you look at things is the most powerful force in shaping your life.

John O’Donohue

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[catherine eliaser]

I love this poem!!! Thanks Ken

Sent from my iPhone

Catherine Eliaser MA MFT

415 721-2818

www.CatherineEliaserMFT.

com

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony."   Mahatma Gandhi. 

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On Feb 21, 2026, at 10:03 AM, Isabel Torres-Carrilho <isabel...@gmail.com> wrote:



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