There's not much evidence that Stalin ever said this, but the quote points to an important truth: we are often willing to sling statistics around to win arguments, while having a profound lack of curiosity about the facts - or the people - behind them. https://twitter.com/ReicherStephen/status/1347489484930220033

Note that Stalin also executed statisticians who brought him unwelcome news - such as the head of the 1937 census, Olimpiy Kvitkin. Autocrats of all stripes dislike solid statistics, because they confront them with painful reality rather than officially-sanctioned lies.

The challenge is to combine the statistical perspective with the individual one. Moving stories of heroism or tragedy are essential but can also distort our understanding of whether a problem is rare or widespread. We need both the statistical view, and the human one.