Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone and following one after the other like a flock of sheep. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods.
The telephone will be used to inform people that a telegram has been sent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the evolution of communication technology and the interconnectedness of different messaging mediums.
Alexander Graham Bell's quote reflects the innovative spirit of technological advancement, demonstrating how one form of communication can serve to announce another. The telephone was a groundbreaking invention that not only changed personal interactions but also facilitated the swift transmission of information, which was essential in a world where telegrams were prevalent. This intertwining of communication methods showcases the ongoing progress in how humans connect and share messages over time.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a presentation about the history of communication technologies.
More from Alexander Graham Bell
All quotes βConcentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them.
A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with - a man is what he makes of himself.
America is a country of inventors, and the greatest of inventors are the newspaper men.
There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things.
Similar quotes
It used to be that we imagined that our mobile phones would be for us to talk to each other. Now, our mobile phones are there to talk to us.
People invent new machines and improve existing ones almost unconsciously, rather as a Somnambulist will go walking in his sleep. The interesting puzzle in our times is that we so willingly sleepwalk through the process of reconstituting the conditions of human existence.
If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.
The mistake that makes launching a venture expensive is when you try to make a disruptive technology so good that it can compete on a quality basis with an established product.
I am hoping, though, that many of them have kids, who, when they have a moment to take a break from their iPods, Internet, or Google, will explain to their parents running the country just how the world is being flattened.
We are always creating new tools and techniques to help people, but the fundamental framework is remarkably resilient, which means it must have something to do with the nature of organizations or human nature.