In an anecdotal story the bank's first property to use as collateral on a loan happened to be a donkey.

Can we really take these anecdotal stories as an indication of a trend?

I have heard a lot of anecdotal stories about the power of candlelight to affect mood.

Anecdotal stories tell successes; however, analysis of avalanche motion and physics dispute swimming as a successful tactic.

There are many anecdotal stories about him that relate to this moral equation, see for example the following references.