'Without the hard little bits of marble which are called 'facts' or 'data' one cannot compose a mosaic; what matters, however, are not so much the individual bits, but the successive patterns into which you arrange them, then break them up and rearrange them.' (Source: The Act of Creation)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Facts are the small pieces of a mosaic; the important part is how they are arranged into patterns and re‑configured.
- In plain terms
- The arrangement of facts matters more than the facts themselves.
- What can you take from it?
- Focus on patterns and relationships among data.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does a single fact outweigh the pattern?
- How can you test a pattern’s validity?
Another view
Sometimes individual facts are crucial and cannot be ignored.
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