“These priorities are not fixed and are indicated in many cases by the data.
Thus we must have a language and a structure that will take care of the data descriptions and priorities, as well as the operations we wish to perform.”

As quoted in Management and the Computer of the Future (1962) by Sloan School of Management, p. 273
Context: We must include in any language with which we hope to describe complex data-processing situations the capability for describing data. We must also include a mechanism for determining the priorities to be applied to the data. These priorities are not fixed and are indicated in many cases by the data.
Thus we must have a language and a structure that will take care of the data descriptions and priorities, as well as the operations we wish to perform. If we think seriously about these problems, we find that we cannot work with procedures alone, since they are sequential. We need to define the problem instead of the procedures. The Language Structures Group of the Codasyl Committee has been studying the structure of languages that can be used to describe data-processing problems. The Group started out by trying to design a language for stating procedures, but soon discovered that what was really required was a description of the data and a statement of the relationships between the data sets. The Group has since begun writing an algebra of processes, the background for a theory of data processing.
Clearly, we must break away from the sequential and not limit the computers. We must state definitions and provide for priorities and descriptions of data. We must state relationships, not procedures.

Source: 1910s, Our Knowledge of the External World (1914), p. 70

As quoted in Management and the Computer of the Future (1962) by Sloan School of Management, p. 273
Context: We must include in any language with which we hope to describe complex data-processing situations the capability for describing data. We must also include a mechanism for determining the priorities to be applied to the data. These priorities are not fixed and are indicated in many cases by the data.
Thus we must have a language and a structure that will take care of the data descriptions and priorities, as well as the operations we wish to perform. If we think seriously about these problems, we find that we cannot work with procedures alone, since they are sequential. We need to define the problem instead of the procedures. The Language Structures Group of the Codasyl Committee has been studying the structure of languages that can be used to describe data-processing problems. The Group started out by trying to design a language for stating procedures, but soon discovered that what was really required was a description of the data and a statement of the relationships between the data sets. The Group has since begun writing an algebra of processes, the background for a theory of data processing.
Clearly, we must break away from the sequential and not limit the computers. We must state definitions and provide for priorities and descriptions of data. We must state relationships, not procedures.

The Rickover Effect (1992)
Context: To do a job effectively, one must set priorities. Too many people let their "in" basket set the priorities. On any given day, unimportant but interesting trivia pass through an office; one must not permit these to monopolize his time. The human tendency is to while away time with unimportant matters that do not require mental effort or energy. Since they can be easily resolved, they give a false sense of accomplishment. The manager must exert self-discipline to ensure that his energy is focused where it is truly needed.

Labour Party Conference, Blackpool 1949
1940s

Source: The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), p. 16

Source: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Earliest attestation 1978; see Statistics. <br class="br">Frequently attributed to Deming; it appears in The Deming Management Method, by Mary Walton, 1986, p. 96 https://books.google.com/books?id=4tPlxq76ssYC&amp;pg=PA96&amp;dq=%22in%20god%20we%20trust.%20all%20others%20must%20use%20data.%22, without any attribution, to Deming or anyone else: <br class="br">Source: “In God we trust. All others must bring data” http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/in_god_we_trust_all_others_must_bring_data, Barry Popik, The Big Apple, October 19, 2015 <br class="br">Source: Misattributed, Chapter 20: Doing It with Data: &quot;In God we trust. All others must bring data.&quot; If there is a credo for statisticians, it is that.

Statements made as she condemned military action in the Persian Gulf http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910118&amp;slug=1261445 <br class="br">1990s