--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This was a public telephone so it was…" description: "\"“This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight that it was working at all.”\" — Douglas Adams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png" --- # This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight… ![“This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight that it was working at all.” quote by Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png) > ““This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight that it was working at all.”” [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A public phone working was an unexpected oversight, highlighting absurdity. **In simple terms:** The phone working was a surprising mistake. Key Takeaway Expect the unexpected in systems. Themes humor technology absurdity Mood witty skeptical Type satirical commentary When to use this quote - public infrastructure - software bugs - customer support Key Concepts bureaucracy design flaw communication Questions to Reflect On - Why do we accept absurdities? - How can we improve design oversight? A Different Perspective Oversight may indicate deeper systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“The phone wavered in Richard's hand. He was holding it about half an inch away from his ear anyway because it seemed that somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-phone-wavered-in-richard-s-hand-he-was-holding-it-about-half-an/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [The only thing nicer than a phone that didn't ring all the time (or indeed at all) was six phones that didn't ring all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-only-thing-nicer-than-a-phone-that-didn-t-ring-all-the-time-or/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I think we need editorial oversight now more than ever. Anything we can do to help newspapers find new ways of expression that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-think-we-need-editorial-oversight-now-more-than-ever-anything-we/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It should be obvious that this pattern of systematic holes and gaps in Iraq's declaration is not the result of accidents, editing oversights or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-negroponte/it-should-be-obvious-that-this-pattern-of-systematic-holes-and-gaps/) [John Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-negroponte/) > [The opportunity should not be lost, which is afforded by the occasion, for illustrating and enforcing the thought that the universe, its creation, its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-s-draper/the-opportunity-should-not-be-lost-which-is-afforded-by-the-occasion/) Andrew S. Draper > [If the City Council wants to hold the police accountable, it has the subpoena power and oversight responsibility to do so. They don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sal-albanese/if-the-city-council-wants-to-hold-the-police-accountable-it-has-the/) [Sal Albanese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sal-albanese/) > [I think it's something that the citizenry needs to be vigilant about - participating in democracy, and that includes issues like what's going on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/i-think-it-s-something-that-the-citizenry-needs-to-be-vigilant-about/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [ They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme \[. . .\] That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/they-re-on-you-day-and-night-their-oversight-is-just-too-extreme-that/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [“The board’s oversight of information management agenda helps to highlight the strategic perspective of IT and improve its differentiated value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/the-board-s-oversight-of-information-management-agenda-helps-to/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [We have a completely unregulated digital landscape. There is almost no oversight. We are placing blind trust in companies like Facebook to do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wylie/we-have-a-completely-unregulated-digital-landscape-there-is-almost-no/) [Christopher Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wylie/) > [The mole rat is the only rodent born without a fur coat. With a good lawyer, someone would pay for that little oversight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/the-mole-rat-is-the-only-rodent-born-without-a-fur-coat-with-a-good/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [I do think it's true that a huge amount of the oversight that the White House engages in with respect to the Executive Branch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-verrilli-jr/i-do-think-it-s-true-that-a-huge-amount-of-the-oversight-that-the/) [Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-verrilli-jr/) > [JP Morgan always has higher capital liquidity, that is partially to make up for mistakes and problems and obviously its a tough economy. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/jp-morgan-always-has-higher-capital-liquidity-that-is-partially-to/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [We must not falsely teach American history in our schools. We have a law requiring state textbook oversight to guard against frauds like Zinn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-daniels/we-must-not-falsely-teach-american-history-in-our-schools-we-have-a/) [Mitch Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-daniels/) > [Eventually the consumer will come to appreciate the editorial point of view of every different brand. User-generated content without editorial oversight will simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eisner/eventually-the-consumer-will-come-to-appreciate-the-editorial-point/) [Michael Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eisner/) ## More by Douglas Adams > [2,000 years ago one man got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was nice to each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/2-000-years-ago-one-man-got-nailed-to-a-tree-for-saying-how-great-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [What a wonderfully exciting cough,' said the little man, quite startled by it, 'do you mind if I join you?' And with that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/what-a-wonderfully-exciting-cough-said-the-little-man-quite-startled/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [One is never alone with a rubber duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/one-is-never-alone-with-a-rubber-duck/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/this-must-be-thursday-i-never-could-get-the-hang-of-thursdays/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/there-are-some-oddities-in-the-perspective-with-which-we-see-the-world/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Eight hours West sat a man alone on a beach mourning an inexplicable loss. He could only think of his loss in little packets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/eight-hours-west-sat-a-man-alone-on-a-beach-mourning-an-inexplicable/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“The Universe, the whole infinite Universe. The infinite suns, the infinite distances between them, and yourself an invisible dot on an invisible dot, infinitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-universe-the-whole-infinite-universe-the-infinite-suns-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [People always make this totally artificial distinction between what is commercial and what is good. They quote that maxim "Nobody ever lost money underestimating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/people-always-make-this-totally-artificial-distinction-between-what/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/any-man-who-can-hitch-the-length-and-breadth-of-the-galaxy-rough-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [ Does God know he \[exists\]?" "Of course he does. Otherwise, you could not have asked the question, and I could not have answered. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/does-god-know-he-exists-of-course-he-does-otherwise-you-could-not/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“When we told our guide that we didn't want to go to all the tourist places he took us instead to the places where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/when-we-told-our-guide-that-we-didn-t-want-to-go-to-all-the-tourist/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“But Douglas was a genius, because he saw the world differently, and more importantly, he could communicate the world he saw.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/but-douglas-was-a-genius-because-he-saw-the-world-differently-and/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“The bits which did mean anything were often so wonderfully buried that no one could ever spot them slipping past in the avalanche of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-bits-which-did-mean-anything-were-often-so-wonderfully-buried/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [You come to me for advice, but you can't cope with anything you don't recognize. Hmmm. So we'll have to tell you something you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/you-come-to-me-for-advice-but-you-can-t-cope-with-anything-you-don-t/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) [Explore all 1,168 Douglas Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## More Oversight quotes > [Eventually the consumer will come to appreciate the editorial point of view of every different brand. User-generated content without editorial oversight will simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eisner/eventually-the-consumer-will-come-to-appreciate-the-editorial-point/) [Michael Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eisner/) > [We must not falsely teach American history in our schools. We have a law requiring state textbook oversight to guard against frauds like Zinn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-daniels/we-must-not-falsely-teach-american-history-in-our-schools-we-have-a/) [Mitch Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-daniels/) > [JP Morgan always has higher capital liquidity, that is partially to make up for mistakes and problems and obviously its a tough economy. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/jp-morgan-always-has-higher-capital-liquidity-that-is-partially-to/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [I do think it's true that a huge amount of the oversight that the White House engages in with respect to the Executive Branch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-verrilli-jr/i-do-think-it-s-true-that-a-huge-amount-of-the-oversight-that-the/) [Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-verrilli-jr/) > [The mole rat is the only rodent born without a fur coat. With a good lawyer, someone would pay for that little oversight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/the-mole-rat-is-the-only-rodent-born-without-a-fur-coat-with-a-good/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [We have a completely unregulated digital landscape. There is almost no oversight. We are placing blind trust in companies like Facebook to do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wylie/we-have-a-completely-unregulated-digital-landscape-there-is-almost-no/) [Christopher Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wylie/) > [“The board’s oversight of information management agenda helps to highlight the strategic perspective of IT and improve its differentiated value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/the-board-s-oversight-of-information-management-agenda-helps-to/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [ They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme \[. . .\] That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/they-re-on-you-day-and-night-their-oversight-is-just-too-extreme-that/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [I think it's something that the citizenry needs to be vigilant about - participating in democracy, and that includes issues like what's going on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/i-think-it-s-something-that-the-citizenry-needs-to-be-vigilant-about/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [If the City Council wants to hold the police accountable, it has the subpoena power and oversight responsibility to do so. They don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sal-albanese/if-the-city-council-wants-to-hold-the-police-accountable-it-has-the/) [Sal Albanese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sal-albanese/) > [The opportunity should not be lost, which is afforded by the occasion, for illustrating and enforcing the thought that the universe, its creation, its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-s-draper/the-opportunity-should-not-be-lost-which-is-afforded-by-the-occasion/) Andrew S. Draper > [It should be obvious that this pattern of systematic holes and gaps in Iraq's declaration is not the result of accidents, editing oversights or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-negroponte/it-should-be-obvious-that-this-pattern-of-systematic-holes-and-gaps/) [John Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-negroponte/) > [I think we need editorial oversight now more than ever. Anything we can do to help newspapers find new ways of expression that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-think-we-need-editorial-oversight-now-more-than-ever-anything-we/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“As the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza put it in a December 2013 article, instead of providing oversight, the Senate committee more often “treats senior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/as-the-new-yorker-s-ryan-lizza-put-it-in-a-december-2013-article/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [There is no doubt that the reason for my awful oversight was over-confidence that sapped my sense of danger. So that is where to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kotov/there-is-no-doubt-that-the-reason-for-my-awful-oversight-was-over/) [Alexander Kotov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kotov/) Browse all 148 Oversight quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight that it was working at all.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Douglas Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-clearly-an-oversight-that-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Oversight" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-clearly-an-oversight-that-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/douglas-adams-122_oversight_this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-cl_1884808.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This was a public telephone so it was clearly an oversight that it was working at all.” — Douglas Adams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Douglas Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This was a public telephone so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-clearly-an-oversight-that-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/this-was-a-public-telephone-so-it-was-clearly-an-oversight-that-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```