--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can't be direct, why be?" description: "\"If you can't be direct, why be?\" — Lily Tomlin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png" --- # If you can't be direct, why be? ![“If you can't be direct, why be?” quote by Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png) > “If you can't be direct, why be?” [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If you cannot be straightforward, you should not engage in communication at all. **In simple terms:** Be direct or stay silent. Key Takeaway Prioritize clarity. Themes honesty communication integrity Mood pragmatic reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - negotiations - public speaking - personal relationships Key Concepts direct speech conflict avoidance Questions to Reflect On - When is indirect communication appropriate? - How do you balance honesty with tact? A Different Perspective Sometimes indirectness is necessary for diplomacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [When you begin your work, nothing exists. 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It's just this sense that you got something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/it-s-a-hard-thing-to-describe-it-s-just-this-sense-that-you-got/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) ## More by Lily Tomlin > [If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-truth-is-beauty-how-come-no-one-has-their-hair-done-in-a-library/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [“So if you've had a good time tonight, or if you've had a good time any night, for gosh sake's why not drop a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/so-if-you-ve-had-a-good-time-tonight-or-if-you-ve-had-a-good-time-any/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [“Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/forgiveness-means-giving-up-all-hope-for-a-better-past/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [I bought a box of animal crackers, but there was nothing inside. They'd eaten each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/i-bought-a-box-of-animal-crackers-but-there-was-nothing-inside-they-d/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [Wouldn't it be great if we all grew up to be what we wanted to be? The world would be full of nurses, firemen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/wouldn-t-it-be-great-if-we-all-grew-up-to-be-what-we-wanted-to-be-the/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [You know being relevant or coming up with something interesting, funny to say about what's current is just as hard as it might ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/you-know-being-relevant-or-coming-up-with-something-interesting-funny/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [I wanted to be a stage actress. I wanted to be a New York actress and have a community with other actors. 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But most of all, I feel very, very alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/in-the-depths-of-the-night-fear-grips-my-heart-it-paralyzes-my-mind/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [“I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. And then I realized I was somebody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/i-always-wondered-why-somebody-didn-t-do-something-about-that-and/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/sometimes-i-worry-about-being-a-success-in-a-mediocre-world/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [And yet humanity is so not evolved that how can you expect anything absolutely major to happen? Look how long, we move ahead in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/and-yet-humanity-is-so-not-evolved-that-how-can-you-expect-anything/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [The whole idea of being in captivity in such limited space, especially in a zoo, causes elephants to suffer. They develop all kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/the-whole-idea-of-being-in-captivity-in-such-limited-space-especially/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) [Explore all 135 Lily Tomlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) ## More Direct quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it's not an art. The main thing about directing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ford/anybody-can-direct-a-picture-once-they-know-the-fundamentals/) [John Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ford/) > [The method of magnitude estimation provided a direct measure of sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-smith-stevens/the-method-of-magnitude-estimation-provided-a-direct-measure-of/) [Stanley Smith Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-smith-stevens/) > [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/) [Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I'm currently trying to direct my own material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-skerritt/i-m-currently-trying-to-direct-my-own-material/) [Tom Skerritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-skerritt/) > [By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/by-the-time-you-get-into-other-kinds-of-music-r-b-country-or-whatever/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [I'm too direct and too unsparingly impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-m-too-direct-and-too-unsparingly-impatient/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Violence is what people do when they run out of good ideas. It's attractive because it's simple, it's direct, it's almost always available as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/violence-is-what-people-do-when-they-run-out-of-good-ideas-it-s/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) [Browse all 3,391 Direct quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you can't be direct, why be?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lily Tomlin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Direct" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f5/lily-tomlin-3278_direct_if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be-804523_804523.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you can't be direct, why be?” — Lily Tomlin", "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": "Lily Tomlin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you can't be direct, why...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/if-you-can-t-be-direct-why-be/#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 } } ] } ```