--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Telephone and telegraph were better means…" description: "\"Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man's telepathy\" — Eric Hobsbawm" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg" --- # Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication… ![“Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man's telepathy” quote by Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg) > “Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man's telepathy” [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Before modern tech, telegraph and telephone were more reliable than speculative telepathic communication. **In simple terms:** Old tech was more reliable than telepathy. Key Takeaway Prefer proven communication methods. Themes technology communication reliability Mood analytical critical Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - business communication - emergency response - historical analysis Key Concepts media history communication theory Questions to Reflect On - How do we evaluate new communication tech? - What role does trust play in adopting new media? A Different Perspective Telepathy remains speculative; future tech may change this. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Communication Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication-holy-5600002/) [Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy/) [Holy man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy-man/) [Man Telepathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-telepathy-5600003/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Means of communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means-of-communication/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Telegraph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telegraph/) [Telegraph Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telegraph-better-5600001/) [Telepathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telepathy/) [Telephone Telegraph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telephone-telegraph-2512289/) [Telephones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telephones/) ## Related quotes > [“And what about a text message? Isn't that just using a telephone as a telegraph?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/and-what-about-a-text-message-isn-t-that-just-using-a-telephone-as-a/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [Communications devices were always used to effect change, to effect revolution. Telephone, telegraph - these all seemed like very big enhancements at the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/communications-devices-were-always-used-to-effect-change-to-effect/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [I believe that the telephone and telegraph and other such conveniences were permitted by the Lord to be developed for the express purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/i-believe-that-the-telephone-and-telegraph-and-other-such/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [Who would have thought that a means of communication limited to 140 characters would ever create misunderstanding?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-would-have-thought-that-a-means-of-communication-limited-to-140/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Words that are carefully framed and spoken are the most powerful means of communication there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-duarte/words-that-are-carefully-framed-and-spoken-are-the-most-powerful/) [Nancy Duarte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-duarte/) > [There should be no means of communication which we cannot read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/there-should-be-no-means-of-communication-which-we-cannot-read/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [It's a time when a lot of principle virtues are being tested. Do we still believe in the truth? Do we still believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/it-s-a-time-when-a-lot-of-principle-virtues-are-being-tested-do-we/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/writing-and-cookery-are-just-two-different-means-of-communication/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/the-more-wonderful-the-means-of-communication-the-more-trivial-tawdry/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [For it is a curious fact that though human beings have such imperfect means of communication, that they can only say 'good to eat'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-it-is-a-curious-fact-that-though-human-beings-have-such-imperfect/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Art must unquestionably have a social value; that is, as a potential means of communication it must be addressed, and in comprehensible terms, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rockwell-kent/art-must-unquestionably-have-a-social-value-that-is-as-a-potential/) [Rockwell Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rockwell-kent/) > [What a man really says when he says that someone else can be persuaded by force, is that he himself is incapable of more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/what-a-man-really-says-when-he-says-that-someone-else-can-be/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [Power in America today is control of the means of communication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-white/power-in-america-today-is-control-of-the-means-of-communication/) [Theodore White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-white/) > [Today, any action anywhere on earth has an immediate repercussion on all five continents. News of a victory of the Eastern armies in Morocco…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/today-any-action-anywhere-on-earth-has-an-immediate-repercussion-on/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [The burgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all nations into civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-burgeoisie-by-the-rapid-improvement-of-all-instruments-of/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## More by Eric Hobsbawm > [All professionals, whether physicists, economists or musicians, live by and for peer judgment, even when they are being paid by people who cannot tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/all-professionals-whether-physicists-economists-or-musicians-live-by/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [Many years later, another Marxian rephrased this as the choice between socialism and barbarity. Which of these will prevail is a question which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/many-years-later-another-marxian-rephrased-this-as-the-choice-between/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [N. S. Khrushchev established his supremacy in the U.S.S.R. after post-Stalinist alarums and excursions (1958-64). This admirable rough diamond, a believer in reform and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/n-s-khrushchev-established-his-supremacy-in-the-u-s-s-r-after-post/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [The only certain thing about the future is that it will surprise even those who have seen furthest into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/the-only-certain-thing-about-the-future-is-that-it-will-surprise-even/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [Nations without a past are contradictions in terms. What makes a nation is the past, what justifies one nation against others is the past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/nations-without-a-past-are-contradictions-in-terms-what-makes-a/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [As the global expansion of Indian and Chinese restaurants suggests, xenophobia is directed against foreign people, not foreign cultural imports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/as-the-global-expansion-of-indian-and-chinese-restaurants-suggests/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/the-imagined-community-of-millions-seems-more-real-as-a-team-of/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [ He\[Napoleon\] had destroyed only one thing: the Jacobin Revolution, the dream of equality, liberty and fraternity, and of the people rising in its majesty… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/he-napoleon-had-destroyed-only-one-thing-the-jacobin-revolution-the/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [It is one of the ironies of this strange century that the most lasting results of the October revolution, whose object was the global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/it-is-one-of-the-ironies-of-this-strange-century-that-the-most/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [There is not much that even the most socially responsible scientists can do as individuals, or even as a group, about the social consequences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/there-is-not-much-that-even-the-most-socially-responsible-scientists/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [Human beings are not efficiently designed for a capitalist system of production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/human-beings-are-not-efficiently-designed-for-a-capitalist-system-of/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [Xenophobia looks like becoming the mass ideology of the 20th-century fin-de-siecle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/xenophobia-looks-like-becoming-the-mass-ideology-of-the-20th-century/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [“For, whatever was the case in de Tocqueville's day, not the passion for egalitarianism but an individualist, that is anti-authoritarian, antinomian though curiously legalistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/for-whatever-was-the-case-in-de-tocqueville-s-day-not-the-passion-for/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [No serious historian of nations and nationalism can be a committed political nationalist... Nationalism requires too much belief in what is patently not so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/no-serious-historian-of-nations-and-nationalism-can-be-a-committed/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [“Human mental identities are not like shoes, of which we can only wear one pair at a time. We are all multi-dimensional beings. Whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/human-mental-identities-are-not-like-shoes-of-which-we-can-only-wear/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) [Explore all 29 Eric Hobsbawm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We should have a conversation when we hang up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/we-should-have-a-conversation-when-we-hang-up/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. I've been in a public bathroom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-ve-been-in-a-serious-conversation-with-one-of-my-children-and-a-fan/) [Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [Disability, in general, hasn't been included in the conversation about inclusivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-winston-george/disability-in-general-hasn-t-been-included-in-the-conversation-about/) [Jason Winston George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-winston-george/) > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) [Browse all 21,506 Communication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man's telepathy", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Hobsbawm" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-means-of-communication-than-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communication" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-means-of-communication-than-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/eric-hobsbawm-20660_communication_telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-mean_1517402.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man's telepathy” — Eric Hobsbawm", "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": "Eric Hobsbawm", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Telephone and telegraph were better means...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-means-of-communication-than-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/telephone-and-telegraph-were-better-means-of-communication-than-the/#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 } } ] } ```