---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The General was using the telephone…"
description: "\"“The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce personality along the wires to bully disbelieving clerks at the far end.”\" — Peter Dickinson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg"
---

#  The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce…

![“The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce personality along the wires to bully disbelieving clerks at the far end.” quote by Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg)

> ““The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce personality along the wires to bully disbelieving clerks at the far end.””

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A powerful figure uses technology to impose his will, manipulating subordinates through intimidation.

**In simple terms:** A boss uses phones to bully workers.

Key Takeaway

Beware of coercive leadership.

Themes

power communication bullying

Mood

tense critical

Type

cautionary observational

When to use this quote

- corporate meetings
- customer service
- remote management

Key Concepts

psychology authority technology

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you respond to subtle intimidation?
- What safeguards can prevent abuse?

A Different Perspective

Power can be abused through indirect channels.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bully/) [Bully Disbelieving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bully-disbelieving-6101387/) [Disbelieving Clerks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disbelieving-clerks-6101386/) [Telephone Forcing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telephone-forcing-6101384/) [Wires Bully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wires-bully-6101385/)

## Related quotes

> [I never caught on to being a bully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-nolte/i-never-caught-on-to-being-a-bully/)

[Nick Nolte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-nolte/)

> [“Jilly looked at it with a sinking heart. It was difficult enough when the exotic, undeniably gorgeous creature of her fantasies had turned out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stuart/jilly-looked-at-it-with-a-sinking-heart-it-was-difficult-enough-when/)

[Anne Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stuart/)

> [Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/knowing-what-s-right-doesn-t-mean-much-unless-you-do-what-s-right/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [It's the bully who is insecure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/it-s-the-bully-who-is-insecure/)

[Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/)

> [It won't ruin our movement if someone gets killed in an animal rights action. It's going to happen sooner or later. The Animal Liberation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-vlasak/it-won-t-ruin-our-movement-if-someone-gets-killed-in-an-animal-rights/)

[Jerry Vlasak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-vlasak/)

> [The real problem with Donald Trump is, if you engage him, it will only make things worse. It's like - it's a little bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-walter/the-real-problem-with-donald-trump-is-if-you-engage-him-it-will-only/)

[Amy Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-walter/)

> [I daydreamed that when you grow up there are more bullies and how wonderful that would be if it were true, but, it's not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-daydreamed-that-when-you-grow-up-there-are-more-bullies-and-how/)

[Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/)

> [Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/democracy-becomes-a-government-of-bullies-tempered-by-editors/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [John McCain is a liar and flip-flopper and panderer and bully and whiner. And it seems to be working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tomasky/john-mccain-is-a-liar-and-flip-flopper-and-panderer-and-bully-and/)

[Michael Tomasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tomasky/)

> [Nothing can prepare you for living or working with a sociopathic serial bully. It is the most devastating, draining, misunderstood, and ultimately futile experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-field/nothing-can-prepare-you-for-living-or-working-with-a-sociopathic/)

[Tim Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-field/)

> [“You fed us, washed us, forced that vile medicine down our throats. By sheer force of will you made some of us live who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-osborne/you-fed-us-washed-us-forced-that-vile-medicine-down-our-throats-by/)

[Maggie Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-osborne/)

> [Bullies enjoy dark happiness; these are the blank parts that eventually fill their minds with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-shanks/bullies-enjoy-dark-happiness-these-are-the-blank-parts-that/)

[Emily Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-shanks/)

> [ \[Putin\] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/putin-is-a-bully-and-bullies-only-understand-when-we-punch-them-in/)

[Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/)

> [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/there-was-no-mistake-in-us-making-abortion-legal-and-available-on/)

[Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/)

> [Always be a first-rate version of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/always-be-a-first-rate-version-of-yourself/)

[Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/)

## More by Peter Dickinson

> [“The ketch belonged to an angry millionaire, who hadn't been willing to lend it until he received a personal telephone call from the President…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/the-ketch-belonged-to-an-angry-millionaire-who-hadn-t-been-willing-to/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

> [“That was the whole trouble with police work. You come plunging in. a jagged Stone Age knife, to probe the delicate tissues of people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/that-was-the-whole-trouble-with-police-work-you-come-plunging-in-a/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

> [“She left them before Bagwy Llydiart, in midsentence. Geoffery and Sally got the subject and verb, and the girl who opened the farm door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/she-left-them-before-bagwy-llydiart-in-midsentence-geoffery-and-sally/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

> [“They had fallen into that instant, easy friendship which feels as though it had begun before any of your memories and will last until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/they-had-fallen-into-that-instant-easy-friendship-which-feels-as/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

> [“When the weatherman spoke he did so in smooth, rolling clauses, full of long words such as schoolmasters use when they are teasing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/when-the-weatherman-spoke-he-did-so-in-smooth-rolling-clauses-full-of/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

> [“...otherwise it was barren as a desert, just long dunes of brick and cement and slate and asphalt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/otherwise-it-was-barren-as-a-desert-just-long-dunes-of-brick-and/)

[Peter Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

[Explore all 7 Peter Dickinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/)

## More Bully quotes

> [I never caught on to being a bully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-nolte/i-never-caught-on-to-being-a-bully/)

[Nick Nolte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-nolte/)

> [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/there-was-no-mistake-in-us-making-abortion-legal-and-available-on/)

[Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/)

> [ \[Putin\] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/putin-is-a-bully-and-bullies-only-understand-when-we-punch-them-in/)

[Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/)

> [Bullies enjoy dark happiness; these are the blank parts that eventually fill their minds with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-shanks/bullies-enjoy-dark-happiness-these-are-the-blank-parts-that/)

[Emily Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-shanks/)

> [“You fed us, washed us, forced that vile medicine down our throats. By sheer force of will you made some of us live who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-osborne/you-fed-us-washed-us-forced-that-vile-medicine-down-our-throats-by/)

[Maggie Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-osborne/)

> [Nothing can prepare you for living or working with a sociopathic serial bully. It is the most devastating, draining, misunderstood, and ultimately futile experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-field/nothing-can-prepare-you-for-living-or-working-with-a-sociopathic/)

[Tim Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-field/)

> [John McCain is a liar and flip-flopper and panderer and bully and whiner. And it seems to be working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tomasky/john-mccain-is-a-liar-and-flip-flopper-and-panderer-and-bully-and/)

[Michael Tomasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tomasky/)

> [Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/democracy-becomes-a-government-of-bullies-tempered-by-editors/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [I daydreamed that when you grow up there are more bullies and how wonderful that would be if it were true, but, it's not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-daydreamed-that-when-you-grow-up-there-are-more-bullies-and-how/)

[Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/)

> [The real problem with Donald Trump is, if you engage him, it will only make things worse. It's like - it's a little bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-walter/the-real-problem-with-donald-trump-is-if-you-engage-him-it-will-only/)

[Amy Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-walter/)

> [It won't ruin our movement if someone gets killed in an animal rights action. It's going to happen sooner or later. The Animal Liberation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-vlasak/it-won-t-ruin-our-movement-if-someone-gets-killed-in-an-animal-rights/)

[Jerry Vlasak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-vlasak/)

> [It's the bully who is insecure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/it-s-the-bully-who-is-insecure/)

[Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/)

> [Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/knowing-what-s-right-doesn-t-mean-much-unless-you-do-what-s-right/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [“Jilly looked at it with a sinking heart. It was difficult enough when the exotic, undeniably gorgeous creature of her fantasies had turned out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stuart/jilly-looked-at-it-with-a-sinking-heart-it-was-difficult-enough-when/)

[Anne Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stuart/)

> [Always be a first-rate version of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/always-be-a-first-rate-version-of-yourself/)

[Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/)

[Browse all 729 Bully quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bully/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce personality along the wires to bully disbelieving clerks at the far end.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Peter Dickinson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forcing-his-fierce-personality/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bully"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forcing-his-fierce-personality/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/peter-dickinson-49723_quote_the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forc_1603362.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The General was using the telephone, forcing his fierce personality along the wires to bully disbelieving…” — Peter Dickinson",
                "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": "Peter Dickinson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dickinson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“The General was using the telephone,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forcing-his-fierce-personality/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dickinson/the-general-was-using-the-telephone-forcing-his-fierce-personality/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
