“In God we trust. All others must bring data”
“In God we trust” was the motto of a Philadelphia regiment in 1748. Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner” (1814) contains the words “In God is our trust.” The association of Odd Fellows used the motto “In God we trust” in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1864, a United States coin was minted with the motto “in God We Trust.” In 1956, “In God We Trust” was made the official United States national motto.
”“In God we trust. All others must bring/have/provide data” is a variation that has been cited since at least 1978, and is of uncertain authorship. Professor of Pathology Edwin R. Fisher told a subcommittee of the House of Representatives, in a hearing titled “Effect of Smoking on Nonsmokers,” in 1978:
“I should like to close by citing a well-recognized cliche in scientific circles. The cliche is, ‘In God we trust, others must provide data.’ What we need is good scientific data before I am willing to accept and submit to the proposition that smoking is a hazard to the nonsmoker.”
“In God we trust. All others have data,” a doctor was quoted in the Washington (DC) Post in October 1979. Cecil R. Reynolds, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, gave a 1981 he gave an address to the American Psychological Association with the title, “Test Bias: In God We Trust, All Others Must Have Data.”
“In God we trust. All others must bring data” was cited in an August 1985 article in The American Statistician. “In God we trust. All others must use data” was cited in the book The Deming Management Method (1986) by Mary Walton. The saying has been frequently credited to American engineer and author W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993), but it’s not clear when he first said it or even if he popularized it, although it was popularized with this name. “By the way, I know Dr. Deming doesn’t like slogans, but we now use the following slogan, ‘In God We Trust, but all others, bring data!’” was spoken at a meeting of the American Gas Association in 1986.
“In God we trust. All others pay cash” and “In God we trust. All others we polygraph” are related sayings. “A person without data is just another person with an opinion” is another popular saying about data.
[This entry was assisted by Ben Zimmer and the Quote Investigator.]
Wikipedia: In God we trust
“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States. It was adopted as the nation’s motto in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. Many people (including Atheists) have expressed objections to its use, and have sought to have the religious reference removed from the currency, claiming that it violates the First Amendment.
“In God we trust” first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 and has appeared on paper currency since 1957. A law passed in a Joint Resolution by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956 declared IN GOD WE TRUST must appear on currency. This phrase was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the phrase entered circulation on October 1, 1957.
Wikipedia: W. Edwards Deming
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Google Books
The Yale Book of Quotations
Edited by Fred R. Shapiro
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
2006
Pg. 145:
Salmon P. Chase
U.S. political leader and judge, 1808-1873
“In God we trust.”
Letter to James Pollock, 9 Dec. 1863. In the 1863 letter to Director of the Mint Pollock, Chase, then secretary of the treasury, proposed this as a motto on U.S. coins, a proposal implemented on the two-cent coin in 1864. Chase may have taken the words from a Civil War (1862) battle cry of the Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers. In 1956 a Joint Resolution of Congress declared “In God we trust” the national motto of the United States. “In God we trust’ was mentioned in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 12 Jan. 1748, as one of a list of “Devices and Mottoes painted on some of the Silk Colours of the Regiments of Associators, in and near Philadelphia.”
Pg. 424:
Francis Scott Key
U.S. lawyer, 1779-1843
“Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust.’”
“The Star Spangled Banner’ (song) st. 4 (1814)
Pg. 669 (Sayings):
“In God we trust; all others pay cash.”
Chester (Pa.) Daily Times, 21 April 1877. The exact wording here is “In God we trust, all others cash.”
12 January 1748, Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, PA):
PHILADELPHIA, January 12. DEVICES and MOTTOES painted on some of the Silk Colours of the Regiments of ASSOCIATORS, in and near Philadelphia.
(Various Latin mottoes given—ed.)
IX. A Coronet and Plume of Feathers. Motto, IN GOD WE TRUST.
Google Books
Effect of Smoking on Nonsmokers:
Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Tobacco of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session, September 7, 1978
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Subcommittee on Tobacco
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
1978
Pg. 5:
I should like to close by citing a well-recognized cliche in scientific circles. The cliche is, “In God we trust, others must provide data.”
29 October 1979, Washington (DC) Post, “Treating Breast Cancer: Findings Question Need for Removal” by Susan Okie, pg. A24, col. 3:
“In God we trust,” he (Dr. Bernard Fisher, a surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh—ed.) said. “All others have data,”
Test Bias: In God We Trust, All Others Must Have Data.
Reynolds, Cecil R. (August 1981).
Abstract/Details
The cultural test bias hypothesis represents the contention that all ethnic or racial group differences on mental tests are due to inherent, artifactual biases produced within the tests through flawed psychometric methodology. This address focuses on an empirical evaluation of the cultural test bias hypothesis, especially emphasizing the construct validity and criterion-related validity of these tests.
1983, Journal of Special Education, pp. 241-260:
Test Bias: In God We Trust; All Others Must Have Data
By Cecil R. Reynolds
August 1985, The American Statistician, “The Key Role of Statisticians in the Transformation of North American Industry” by Brian L. Joiner, pg. 226, col. 2:
We can show how understanding processes helps provide ways for data-based communication of departmental needs. We can help eliminate finger pointing and get down to the facts. “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” Or, “Facts often kill a good argument.”
Google Books
Operating Section Proceedings
American Gas Association. Operating Section
1986
Pg. 229:
By the way, I know Dr. Deming doesn’t like slogans, but we now use the following slogan, “In God We Trust, but all others, bring data!”
Google Books
The Deming Management Method
By Mary Walton
New York, NY: A Perigee Book (Penguin Books)
1986
Pg. 96:
“In God we trust. All others must use data.”
If there is a credo for statisticians, it is that.
Google Books
Team Building:
A Structured Learning Approach
By Peter Mears and Frank Voehl
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
1994
Pg. 59:
Over the years, Dr. Deming has gradually focused his teachings into a body of knowledge that is epitomized by his “Theory of Profound Knowledge,” which has at its core a knowledge of statistics. In his apartment in New York City, a sign above his study door read, “In God we trust; all others must bring data.” And data to Deming meant statistics.
Google Books
Statistical Quality Control:
A Loss Minimization Approach
By Dan Trietsch
Singapore: World Scientific
1999
Pg. 17:
In God we trust. All others must have data. (Snee’s Corollary. Mistakenly attributed by some to Deming.)
Google Groups: aus.stats.s
[S] Summary: What’s wrong with “export.data”?
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
4/3/01
(...)
“In God we trust all others must bring data” W. Edwards Deming
Google News Archive
8 February 2006, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “Leukemia tied to benzene exposure,” pg. D-3, col. 3:
“As a scientist I (Christopher Borgert of Applied Pharmacology and Toxicology—ed.) see it as my duty to remain skeptical about everything—In God we trust, all others bring data.”
Twitter
Rodrigo Nascimento
@rodrigon_CH
@rafacst In God we trust. All the rest, bring the data.
9:53 AM - 16 Nov 2009
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Antoaneta Nikolaeva
@AntoanetaN
In God we trust, the rest bring data ! W. Edwars Deming
3:19 PM - 3 Mar 2010
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Chris Vaca
@TheChrisVaca
“In God We Trust. The rest bring data.” - E. Deming. #analytics2014 @MacysDotCom
2:50 PM - 9 Jun 2014
Millbrae, CA
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Gonzaga Valdés
@gonzagavaldes
“In God we trust ... All the rest bring me data (Sam Walton) ” #CMOSummit #ViveElFuturo
1:56 PM - 21 Aug 2014
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
Twitter
Benja Garrido
@benjaGarrido
“In God we trust. All the rest bring data.” Barry Beracha, ex CEO Sara Lee.
11:47 AM - 26 Jan 2015
Business Insider
One phrase that perfectly captures Amazon’s crazy obsession with numbers
Eugene Kim
October 19, 2015
Amazon is notorious for its intense data-driven decision-making culture.
(...)
“Managers had signs outside their offices that said, ‘In God we trust. The rest, bring me data,’” Guru Hariharan, a former Amazon engineer who’s now running his own e-commerce software startup called Boomerang Commerce, told us.