Probability Theory Quotes

• Probability theory is nothing but common sense reduced to calculation.

  Pierre-Simon Laplace

  Common Sense, Calculations, Common

  "Théorie Analytique Des Probabilités". Book by Pierre-Simon Laplace, second edition, 1814.

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• In no other branch of mathematics is it so easy for experts to blunder as in probability theory.

  Martin Gardner

  Education, Math, Experts

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• Probability is expectation founded upon partial knowledge. A perfect acquaintance with all the circumstances affecting the occurrence of an event would change expectation into certainty, and leave nether room nor demand for a theory of probabilities.

  George Boole

  Perfect, Expectations, Events

  Collected Logical Works Volume II An Investigation of the Law of Thought Chapter XVI (p. 258)

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• The theory of probabilities is at bottom nothing but common sense reduced to calculus; it enables us to appreciate with exactness that which accurate minds feel with a sort of instinct for which of times they are unable to account.

  Pierre-Simon Laplace

  Science, Appreciate, Common Sense

  "Théorie Analytique Des Probabilités". Book by Pierre-Simon Laplace, second edition, 1814.

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• The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

  Andy Rooney

  Life, Education, Humor

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• At a purely formal level, one could call probability theory the study of measure spaces with total measure one, but that would be like calling number theory the study of strings of digits which terminate.

  Terence Tao

  Numbers, Space, Would Be

  Terence Tao (2012). “Topics in Random Matrix Theory”, p.2, American Mathematical Soc.

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• It was our use of probability theory as logic that has enabled us to do so easily what was impossible for those who thought of probability as a physical phenomenon associated with "randomness". Quite the opposite; we have thought of probability distributions as carriers of information.

  Edwin Thompson Jaynes

  Opposites, Use, Statistics

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• Coincidences, in general, are great stumbling blocks in the way of that class of thinkers who have been educated to know nothing of the theory of probabilities- that theory to which the most glorious objects of human research are indebted for the most glorious of illustration.

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Block, Illustration, Class

  Tales of Mystery and Imagination The Murders in the Rue Morgue (p. 208)

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• Entropy theory, on the other hand, is not concerned with the probability of succession in a series of items but with the overall distribution of kinds of items in a given arrangement.

  Rudolf Arnheim

  Science, Hands, Kind

  Rudolf Arnheim (1974). “Entropy and Art: An Essay on Disorder and Order”, p.19, Univ of California Press

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• One of the most striking and fundamental things about probability theory is that it leads to an understanding of the otherwise strange fact that events which are individually capricious and unpredictable can, when treated en masse, lead to very stable average performances.

  Warren Weaver

  Average, Understanding, Facts

  Warren Weaver (2012). “Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability”, p.361, Courier Corporation

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• I failed math twice, never fully grasping probability theory. I mean, first off, who cares if you pick a black ball or a white ball out of the bag? And second, if you’re bent over about the color, don’t leave it to chance. Look in the damn bag and pick the color you want.

  Janet Evanovich

  Mean, Math, White

  Janet Evanovich (2010). “Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel”, p.113, Macmillan

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• Maybe we should teach schoolchildren probability theory and investment risk management.

  Andrew Lo

  Risk, Management, Investment

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