How to Lie with Maps Quotes

“... one map cannot tell the whole story, and healthy skepticism is essential because map authors who don't understand or otherwise ignore cartographic principles can commit misleading blunders.”
― Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

“Map projections distort five geographic relationships: areas, angles, gross shapes, distances, and directions. Although”
― Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

“single map is but one of an indefinitely large number of maps that might be produced for the same situation or from the same data.”
― Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

“Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it’s essential. To portray meaningful relationships for a complex, three-dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper or a screen, a map must distort reality. As a scale model, the map must use symbols that almost always are proportionally much bigger or thicker than the features they represent. To avoid hiding critical information in a fog of detail, the map must offer a selective, incomplete view of reality. There’s no escape from the cartographic paradox: to present a useful and truthful picture, an accurate map must tell white lies.”
― Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

“Indeed, laziness and lack of curiosity all too often are the most important sources of bias.”
― Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps