Tuesday 18 May 2021

 




A Word On Statistics






 Out of every hundred people,


those who always know better:

fifty-two.


Unsure of every step:

almost all the rest.


Ready to help,

if 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:

four-and-forty.


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 except things:

thirty

(though I would like to be wrong).


Balled up in pain

and without a flashlight in the dark:

eighty-three, sooner or later.


Those who are just:

quite a few, 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.”



Wisława Szymborska







Note: The "Luci di Nara"  or "The light of moon" is a sculpture, characteristic of Igor Mitoraj's work. In the photo above, it is installed outside The British Museum (1991). 

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