The study of statistics is thus a religious service.

The true foundation of theology is to ascertain the character of God. It is by the art of Statistics that law in the social sphere can be ascertained and codified, and certain aspects of the character of God thereby revealed. The study of statistics is thus a religious service.

— Florence Nightingale (British social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing, 1820 – 1910), in Florence Nightingale David’s Games, God and Gambling (1962)