QuoteProject
The worst thing about e-mail is that you can’t interrupt the other person. You have to read the whole thing and then e-mail them back, pointing out all their mistakes and faulty assumptions. It’s frustrating and it’s time-consuming. God bless phone calls.
George Carlin
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

E-mail communication can lead to misunderstandings and prolonged discussions, while phone calls offer a more direct and efficient interaction.

George Carlin humorously critiques the limitations of email as a communication tool, suggesting that it can be tedious and frustrating due to the lack of real-time interaction. Unlike phone calls, where misunderstandings can be quickly addressed, emails require a back-and-forth exchange that can delay resolution and exacerbate confusion, highlighting the advantages of more immediate forms of communication.

Themes

EmailCommunicationPhone CallsFrustrationEfficiency

In practice

Example use cases

In a presentation about workplace communication, this quote can emphasize the need for direct interaction.

More from George Carlin

Life is a near-death experience.
George CarlinRead
Here’s a bumper sticker I’d like to see: “We are the proud parents of a child who’s self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn’t need us promoting his minor scholastic achievements on the back of our car."
George CarlinRead
If you've got a cat and a leg, you've got a happy cat. If you've got a cat and two legs, you've got a party.
George CarlinRead
This is a lttle prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen.
George CarlinRead
Some people try to get out of jury duty by lying. You don't have to lie. Tell the judge the truth. Tell him you'd make a terrific juror because you can spot guilty people.
George CarlinRead
Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.
George CarlinRead

Similar quotes

Listen twice as much as you speak.
John C. MaxwellRead
Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment.
Pearl S. BuckRead
Words let us say the things we want to say and also things we would be better off not having said. They let us know the things we need to know, and also things we wish we didn't.
Steven PinkerRead
I've found that good dialogue tells you not only what people are saying or how they're communicating but it tells you a great deal - by dialect and tone, content and circumstance - about the quality of the character.
E. O. WilsonRead
If the communications media are a good destined for all humanity, then ever-new means must be found - including recourse to opportune legislative measures - to make possible a true participation in their management by all. The culture of co-responsibility must be nurtured.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Labeling and diagnosis is a catastrophic way to communicate. Telling other people what's wrong with them greatly reduces, almost to zero, the probability that we're going to get what we're after.
Marshall B. RosenbergRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.