Who really said it
Michael Lewis, The Undoing Project (2016)
Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?
For presentations
Unconfirmed quote & credit
“No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story” — Daniel Kahneman, as reported by Michael Lewis in The Undoing Project (2016); original interview record not established.
Can you use it?
Still under copyright. A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.
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In context
Evoking the world of Daniel Kahneman — 1934–2024. Theme: "No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
No one ever made a decision because of a number. Short excerpt
How we verified this
Only a short excerpt is reproduced; identification and commentary do not grant permission to reuse the complete work.
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Context
The saying contrasts numerical probabilities with the narratives people use to understand choices. Its source trail is Michael Lewis’s account of Kahneman, and a later psychology article uses it when discussing professional judgment in selection decisions. That transmission matters: it is reported speech rather than a maxim located in Kahneman’s own Thinking, Fast and Slow.
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Transcribes the exact sentence and identifies its containing book or reported source.
Printed p.48 quotes the sentence and credits Kahneman in Lewis, The Undoing Project (2016), p.250; surrounding article concerns selection judgment.
Documents Kahneman’s Princeton appointment, Nobel recognition, collaboration with Amos Tversky and death in 2024.
Documents his dates and research on judgment, decisions and cognitive biases; used for biography, not exact quotation proof.
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The author
For writers & researchers
Michael Lewis, The Undoing Project. 2016.
Quotle.info. Who really said 'No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story'? Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/no-one-ever-made-a-decision-because-of-a-number-they-need-a/