Skip to content

The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain of granite blooms into an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate finish, as well as the ærial proportions and perspective of vegetable beauty.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another quote →

Topics

Architecture

More quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wish to write such rhymes as shall not suggest a restraint, but contrariwise the wildest freedom.

Journals (1822)

The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.

The man who renounces himself, comes to himself.

Divinity College Address (1838)

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

Poems (1847)

He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.

The Method of Nature (1841)

All Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes →

You may also like

The civil engineer is the real 19th century architect.

William Burges

Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments with public consent, public approval and often public money.

John Prebble

The sight of such a monument is like continual and stationary music, which one hears for one's good as one approaches it.

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël Corinne (1807)

Rich windows that exclude the light,
And passages that lead to nothing.

Thomas Gray

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ralph Waldo Emerson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.