A Word on Statistics | Wislawa Szymborska
Out of every hundred people,
those who always know better: Unsure of every step: Ready to help, Always good, Able to admire without envy: Led to error Those not to be messed with: Living in constant fear Capable of happiness: Harmless alone, Cruel Wise in hindsight: Getting nothing out of life except things: Balled up in pain Those who are just: But if it takes effort to understand: Worthy of empathy:
fifty-two.
almost all the rest.
if it doesn’t take long:
forty-nine.
because they cannot be otherwise:
four — well, maybe five.
eighteen.
by youth (which passes):
sixty, plus or minus.
four-and-forty.
of someone or something:
seventy-seven.
twenty-some-odd at most.
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.
when forced by circumstances:
it’s better not to know,
not even approximately.
not many more
than wise in foresight.
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong).
and without a flashlight in the dark:
eighty-three, sooner or later.
quite a few, thirty-five.
three.
ninety-nine.
one hundred out of one hundred —
a figure that has never varied yet.
