diff --git a/chapter08/aboutdebug.xml b/chapter08/aboutdebug.xml
index d646b797e..e9b90d64b 100644
--- a/chapter08/aboutdebug.xml
+++ b/chapter08/aboutdebug.xml
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
   the debugger can provide not only memory addresses, but also
   the names of the routines and variables.</para>
 
-  <para>However, the inclusion of these debugging symbols enlarges a
-  program or library significantly. The following is an example of the
+  <para>The inclusion of these debugging symbols enlarges a
+  program or library significantly. Here are two examples of the
   amount of space these symbols occupy:</para>
 
   <itemizedlist>
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     </listitem>
     <listitem>
       <para>A <command>bash</command> binary without debugging symbols:
-      480 KB</para>
+      480 KB (60% smaller)</para>
     </listitem>
     <listitem>
       <para>Glibc and GCC files (<filename class="directory">/lib</filename>
@@ -36,15 +36,14 @@
       symbols: 87 MB</para>
     </listitem>
     <listitem>
-      <para>Glibc and GCC files without debugging symbols: 16 MB</para>
+      <para>Glibc and GCC files without debugging symbols: 16 MB (82% smaller)</para>
     </listitem>
   </itemizedlist>
 
-  <para>Sizes may vary depending on which compiler and C library were used,
-  but when comparing programs with and without debugging symbols, the
-  difference will usually be a factor between two and five.</para>
-
-  <para>Because most users will never use a debugger on their system software,
+  <para>Sizes will vary depending on which compiler and C library were used,
+  but a program that has been stripped of debugging symbols is usually some
+  50% to 80% smaller than its unstripped counterpart.
+  Because most users will never use a debugger on their system software,
   a lot of disk space can be regained by removing these symbols. The next
   section shows how to strip all debugging symbols from the programs and
   libraries.</para>