This blog entry was published on TIBCO Spotfire’s Business Intelligence blog, by Linda Rosencrance, of the Spotfire Blogging Team. Here are 13 of her favorite data quotes – gathered from a number of sources on the web – from CEOs, statisticians, authors and even Sherlock Holmes.

I thought it was really cool!

Data, Data Everywhere

What we have is a data glut. Vernor Vinge, emeritus professor of mathematics at San Diego State University, who is considered of the greatest science fiction writers today. Every second of every day, our senses bring in way too much data than we can possibly process in our brains. Peter Diamandis, Chairman/CEO, X-Prize Foundation. The world is now awash in data and we can see consumers in a lot clearer ways. Max Levchin, PayPal co-founder.

In Data We Trust

In God we trust. All others must bring data. W. Edwards Deming, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlett (Arthur Conan Doyle). I’m a bit of a freak for evidence-based analysis. I strongly believe in data. Gus O’Donnell, a former British senior civil servant, economist, and Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the British Civil Service.

Data = Understanding

The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight. Carly Fiorina, former executive, president, and chair of Hewlett-Packard Co. You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data. Daniel Keys Moran, an American computer programmer and science fiction writer. When we have all data online it will be great for humanity. It is a prerequisite to solving many problems that humankind faces. Robert Cailliau, Belgian informatics engineer and computer scientist who, together with Tim Berners-Lee, developed the World Wide Web.

Why We Love Data

Data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves. Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the web like deer on a freeway. Geoffrey Moore, author and consultant. Things get done only if the data we gather can inform and inspire those in a position to make [a] difference. Mike Schmoker, former school administrator, English teacher and football coach, author.

And finally:

If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO.

Click here to link to the original July 1 blog site.