Nothing is more uncertain than the result of any one throw; few things more certain than the result of many throws.
When applied to human life, the law of averages exhibits many striking results.

"Effects of The Rebellion on Southern Life Insurance Contracts : Argument made before the Supreme Court of the United States in the Cases of the New York Life Insurance Company v. Statham et al. and the Same v. Charlotte Seyms." (26 April 1876), as published in The Works of James Abram Garfield (1883), edited by Burke A. Hinsdale, Vol. II, p. 158