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. - Wislawa Szymborska Jamie