Vitruvius Quotes

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May the Architect be high-minded;
not arrogant, but faithful;
Just, and easy to deal with,
without avarice;
Not let his mind be occupied
in receiving gifts,
But let him preserve his good name
with dignity... ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
From the exterior face of the wall towers must be projected, from which an approaching enemy may be annoyed by weapons, from the embrasures of those towers, right and left. ~ Vitruvius
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For siege works against bold and venturesome men should be constructed on one plan, on another against cautious men, and on still another against the cowardly. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
The temple of Ceres should be in a solitary spot out of the city, to which the public are not necessarily led but for the purpose of sacrificing to her. ~ Vitruvius
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Fir : it contains a great deal of air and fire with very little moisture and the earthy, so that, as its natural properties are of the lighter class, it is not heavy. Hence, its consistence being naturally stiff, it does not easily bend under the load, and keeps its straightness when used in the framework. But it contains so much heat that it generates and encourages decay, which spoils it; and it also kindles fire quickly because of the air in its body, which is so open that it takes in fire and so gives out a great flame. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Burn shavings and splinters of pitch pine, and when they turn to charcoal, put them out, and pound them into mortar with size. This will make a pretty black for fresco painting. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Astronomers ... have a common ground for discussion with musicians in the harmony of the stars and musical concords in tetrads and triads of the fourth and the fifth, and with geometricians in the subject of vision; and in all other sciences many points, perhaps all, are common so far as the discussion of them is concerned. But the actual undertaking of works which are brought to perfection by the hand and its manipulation is the function of those who have been specially trained to deal with a single art. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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If our designs for private houses are to be correct, we must at the outset take note of the countries and climates in which they are built. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Economy consists in a due and proper application of the means afforded according to the ability of the employer and the situation chosen; care being taken that the expenditure is prudently conducted. ~ Vitruvius
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An easy approach to the walls must be provided against: indeed they should be surrounded by uneven ground, and the roads leading to the gates should be winding and turn to the left from the gates. ~ Vitruvius
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All the gifts which fortune bestows she can easily take away; but education, when combined with intelligence, never fails, but abides steadily on to the very end of life. ~ Vitruvius
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The third order, called Corinthian , is an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of prettier effects in the way of adornment. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Pytheos made a mistake by not observing that the arts are each composed of two things, the actual work and the theory of it. One of these, the doing of the work, is proper to men trained in the individual subject, while the other the theory is common to all scholars. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
In accordance with the foregoing investigations on mathematical principles, let bronze vessels be made, proportionate to the size of the theatre, and let them be so fashioned that, when touched, they may produce with one another the notes of the fourth, the fifth, and so on up the double octave. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
It is no secret that the moon has no light of her own, but is, as it were, a mirror, receiving brightness from the influence of the sun. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
If then, at this great distance, our human vision can discern that sight, why, pray, are we to think that the divine splendor of the stars can be cast into darkness? ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
In felling a tree we should cut into the trunk of it to the very heart, and then leave it standing so that the sap may drain out drop by drop throughout the whole of it ... Then and not till then, the tree being drained dry and the sap no longer dripping, let it be felled and it will be in the highest state of usefulness. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
The strengths landscape architecture draws from its garden design heritage include: the Vitruvian design tradition of balancing utility, firmness and beauty; use of the word 'landscape' to mean 'a good place' - as the objective of the design process; a comprehensive approach to open space planning involving city parks, greenways and nature outside towns; a planning theory about the contextualisation of development projects; the principle that development plans should be adapted to their landscape context. ~ Tom Turner
Vitruvius quotes by Tom Turner
Remembering ... that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered from the course of the sun, the shadows cast by an equinoctial gnomon, and the inclination of the heaven that the circumference of the earth is two hundred and fifty-two thousand stadia, that is, thirty-one million five hundred thousand paces. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Dimension regulated the general scale of the work, so that the parts may all tell and be effective. ~ Vitruvius
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Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance. ~ Vitruvius
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As regards the efficacy of the art and the theories of it, I promise and expect that in these volumes I shall undoubtedly show myself of very considerable importance not only to builders but also to all scholars. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
There are also kinds of water that cause death, as they run through harmful juices in the soil and become poisonous. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
If nature has composed the human body so that in its proportions the seperate individual elements answer to the total form, then the Ancients seem to have had reason to decide that bringing their creations to full completion likewise required a correspondence bewteen the measure of individual elements and the appearance of the work as a whole. ~ Vitruvius
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But as for me, Emperor, nature has not given me stature, age has marred my face, and my strength is impaired by ill health. Therefore, since these advantages fail me, I shall win your approval, as I hope, by the help of my knowledge and my writings. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
I think that men have no right to profess themselves architects hastily, without having climbed from boyhood the steps of these studies and thus, nursed by the knowledge of many arts and sciences, having reached the heights of the holy ground of architecture. ~ Vitruvius
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Basilicas should be constructed on a site adjoining the forum and in the warmest possible quarter, so that in winter business men may gather in them without being troubled by the weather. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
The daily disappearance and the subsequent rise of the sun appeared to many of the ancients as a true resurrection; thus, while the east came to be regarded as the source of light and warmth, happiness and glory, the west was associated with darkness and chill, decay and death. This led to the custom of burying the dead so as to face the east when they rose again, and of building temples and shrines with an opening toward the east. To effect this, Vitruvius, two thousand years ago, gave precise rules, which are still followed by Christian architects. ~ Isaac Newton
Vitruvius quotes by Isaac Newton
Oak ... lasts for an unlimited period when buried in underground structures ... when exposed to moisture ... it cannot take in liquid on account of its compactness, but, withdrawing from the moisture, it resists it and warps, thus making cracks. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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From food and water, then, we may learn whether sites are naturally unhealthy or healthy. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
At Halicarnassus , the house of that most potent king Mausolus, though decorated throughout with Proconnesian marble, has walls built of brick which are to this day of extraordinary strength, and are covered with stucco so highly polished that they seem to be as glistening as glass. That king did not use brick from poverty; for he was choke-full of revenues, being ruler of all Caria . ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Heat is a universal solvent, melting out of things their power of resistance, and sucking away and removing their natural strength with its fiery exhalations so that they grow soft, and hence weak, under its glow. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Wind is a floating wave of air, whose undulation continually varies. ~ Vitruvius
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The [engineer] should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Proportion is that agreeable harmony between the several parts of a building, which is the result of a just and regular agreement of them with each other; the height to the width, this to the length, and each of these to the whole. ~ Vitruvius
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Economy denotes the the proper management of materials and of site, as well as a thrifty balancing of cost and common sense in the construction of works ... the architect does not demand things which cannot be found or made ready without great expense. For example: it is not everywhere that there is plenty of pitsand, rubble, fir, clear fir, and marble ... Where there is no pitsand, we must use the kinds washed up by rivers or by the sea ... and other problems we must solve in similar ways. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
There are also in some places springs which have the peculiarity of giving fine singing voices to the natives, as at Tarsus in Magnesia and in other countries of that kind. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
The architect must not only understand drawing, but music. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Dimension stone, flint, rubble, burnt or unburnt brick, use them as you find them. For it is not every neighborhood or particular locality that can have a wall built of burnt brick like that at Babylon , where there was plenty of asphalt to take the place of lime and sand, and yet possibly each may be provided with materials of equal usefulness so that out of them a faultless wall may be built to last forever. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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The fact is that pictures which are unlike reality ought not be approved, and even if they are technically fine, this is no reason why they should offhand be judged to be correct, if their subject is lacking in the principles of reality carried out with no violations. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion. ~ Vitruvius
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The leaves of these [larch] trees are like those of the pine; timber from them comes in long lengths, is as easily wrought in joiner's work as is the clearwood of fir, and contains a liquid resin, of the color of Attic honey, which is good for consumptives . ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Water from clay pipes is much more wholesome than that which is conducted through lead pipes, because lead is found to be harmful for the reason that white lead is derived from it, and this is said to be hurtful to the human system. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Bodies which contain a greater proportion of water than is necessary to balance the other elements, are speedily corrupted, and lose their virtues and properties. ~ Vitruvius
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For not all things are practicable on identical principles ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
At Jaffa in Syria and among the Nomads in Arabia , are lakes of enormous size that yield very large masses of asphalt, which are carried off by the inhabitants thereabouts. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Writing on architecture is not like history or poetry. ~ Vitruvius
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In the midst of all this great variety of subjects, an individual cannot attain to perfection in each, because it is scarcely in his power to take in and comprehend the general theories of them. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Trees which grow in places facing the course of the sun are not of porous fiber but are solid, being drained by the dryness ... The trees in sunny neighborhoods, therefore, being solidified by the compact texture of their fiber, and not being porous from moisture, are very useful, so far as durability goes, when they are hewn into timber. The lowland firs, being conveyed from sunny places, are better than those highland firs, which are brought here from shady places. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Noting all these things with the great delight which learning gives, we cannot but be stirred by these discoveries when we reflect upon the influence of them one by one. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
For we must not build temples according to the same rules to all gods alike, since the performance of the sacred rites varies with the various gods. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Harmony is an obscure and difficult musical science, but most difficult to those who are not acquainted with the Greek language; because it is necessary to use many Greek words to which there are none corresponding in Latin. ~ Vitruvius
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Architects should be educated, skillful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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All machinery is derived from nature, and is founded on the teaching and instruction of the revolution of the firmament. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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The larch ... is not only preserved from decay and the worm by the great bitterness of its sap, but also it cannot be kindled with fire nor ignite of itself, unless like stone in a limekiln it is burned with other wood ... This is because there is a very small proportion of the elements of fire and air in its composition, which is a dense and solid mass of moisture and the earthy, so that it has no open pores through which fire can find its way ... Further, its weight will not let it float in water. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Now architecture consists of order, which in Greek is called taxis ... Order is the balanced adjustment of the details of the work separately, and, as to the whole, the arrangement of the proportion with a view to a symmetrical result. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Architect's designs must refer to the unquestionable perfection of the body's symmetry and proportions. If a building is to create a sense of eurythmia, it is essential that it mirrors these natural laws of harmony and beauty ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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In all matters but particularly in architecture ... that which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking and that which gives significance is a demonstration on scientific principles ... One who professes himself an architect should be well versed in both directions. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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The proper form of economy must be observed in building houses for each and every class. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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There will ... be natural propriety in using an eastern light for bedrooms and libraries, a western light in winter for baths and winter apartments, and a northern light for picture galleries and other places in which a steady light is needed; for that quarter of the sky grows neither light nor dark with the course of the sun, but remains steady and unshifting all day long. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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I, therefore, O Caesar, do not publish this work, merely prefixing my name to a treatise which of right belongs to others, nor think of acquiring reputation by finding fault with the works of any one. ~ Vitruvius
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Some have held that there are only four winds: Solanus from the east; Auster from the south; Favonius from due west; Septentrio from the north. But more careful investigators tell us that there are eight. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Apollo at Delphi, through the oracular utterance of his priestess, pronounced Socrates the wisest of men. Of him it is related that he said with sagacity and great learning that the human breast should have been furnished with open windows, so that men might not keep their feelings concealed, but have them open to the view. Oh that nature, following his idea, had constructed them thus unfolded and obvious to the view. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Thus by such victory, not by machines but in oppositions to the principle to the principles of machines, has the freedom of states been preserved by the cunning of architects. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Quicksilver is used for many purposes; without it, neither silver nor brass can be properly gilt. ~ Vitruvius
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The construction of temples of the Ionic order to Juno , Diana , Father Bacchus, and the other gods of that kind, will be in keeping with the middle position which they hold; for the building of such will be an appropriate combination of the severity of the Doric and the delicacy of the Corinthian . ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
In Sparta , paintings have been taken out of certain walls by cutting through the bricks, then have been placed in wooden frames, and so brought to the Comitium to adorn the aedileship of [C. Visellius] Varro and [C. Licinius] Murena. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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The design of a temple depends on symmetry , the principles of which must be most carefully observed by the architect. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Since, therefore, individuals as well as the public are so indebted to these writers for the benefits they enjoy, I think them not only entitled to the honour of palms and crowns, but even to be numbered among the gods. ~ Vitruvius
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The thickness of the walls should be sufficient for two armed men to pass each other with ease. ~ Vitruvius
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Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts. ~ Vitruvius
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The stone in quarries is found to be of different and unlike qualities. In some it is soft ... in others it is medium ... in still others it is hard as in lava quarries. There are also numerous other kinds: for instance, in Campania , red and black tufas ; in Umbria , Picenum, and Venetia , white tufa which can be cut with a toothed saw like wood. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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As for philosophy, it makes an architect high-minded and not self-assuming, but rather renders him courteous, just, and honest without avariciousness. This is very important, for no work can be rightly done without honesty and incorruptibility. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Music, also, the architect ought to understand so that he may have knowledge of the canonical and mathematical theory, and besides be able to tune ballistae , catapultae, and scorpiones to the proper key. For to the right and left in the beams are the holes in the frames through which the strings of twisted sinew are stretched by means of windlasses and bars, and these strings must not be clamped and made fast until they give the same correct note to the ear of the skilled workman. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Fresh pitsand, however, in spite of all its excellence in concrete structures, is not equally useful in stucco, the richness of which, when the lime and straw are mixed with such sand, will cause it to crack as it dries on account of the great strength of the mixture. But river sand, though useless in "signinum" on account of its thinness, becomes perfectly solid in stucco when thoroughly worked by means of polishing instruments. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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In fact, all kinds of men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work ... ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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There are two styles of walls "opus reticulatum," now used by everybody and the ancient style called "opus incertum." Of these, the reticulatum looks better, but its construction makes it likely to crack ... On the other hand, in the opus incertum, the rubble lying in courses and imbricated , makes a wall which though not beautiful, is stronger. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Leave a cavity behind the [wall] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick or lava in courses, and then bind them to the fronts by means of iron clamps and lead ... the beds and builds, all settling equally and bonded at the joints, will not let the work bulge out, nor allow the fall of the face walls which have been tightly fastened together. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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Beauty is produced by the pleasing appearance and good taste of the whole, and by the dimensions of all the parts being duly proportioned to each other. ~ Vitruvius
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This was how Dinocrates, recommended only by his good looks and dignified carriage, came to be so famous. But as for me, Emperor, nature has not given me stature, age has marred my face, and my strength is impaired by ill health. ~ Vitruvius Pollio
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Bricks should be made in Spring or Autumn so that they may dry uniformly. ~ Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius quotes by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
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