Building Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old building quotes, building sayings, and building proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Create with the heart; build with the mind. Criss Jami
Cheops' Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget. Robert A. Heinlein
The last to fall were the buildings, distant and solemn, the gravestones for an entire world. Dan Wells
Sometimes while you are so passionately busy building, there will be others as busy destroying. Do not stop. One day you will notice how high above you get, and how down below they end up Sameh Elsayed
I left home and tried to live the life of a hermit, but I was still fighting myself. I went to England and worked as a chain man on the road. It was better therapy than the shrinks. Building a two-mile road gave me internal peace. Brian Strang
The most fundamental building blocks of the basic building blocks of the universe are infinitely divisible moments in time. Khalid Masood
If you are asked to build a castle, don't build it out of sand by the ocean, don't build it out of ice in the middle of summer. Build it with the best materials, with the best design, and with the intention to make it last the passing of time. That castle ought to be your legacy. F. A. Barillas
Once, we built structures entirely from the most durable substances we knew: granite block, for instance. The results are still around today to admire, but we don’t often emulate them, because quarrying, cutting, transporting, and fitting stone require a patience we no longer possess. Alan Weisman
I walk past a construction site and manage a fond smile as I watch the workers clean up for the day, their behemoth starting to claw its iron talons toward the sky as the materials come together, magically creating a new economy where once there was none. Melanie A. Smith
If you build it well, a satisfaction comes An honor to say I built that with fidelity, Purpose, value and integrity Richard L. Ratliff
Modern architecture has the potential to send you to an early grave. Steven Magee
Every house is built by a man. But Maker is the Builder of life. Lailah Gifty Akita
If we abandon the past in the pursuit of the future, we’ve left all of the construction materials behind. So, we might show up at the site, but we’re not going to be building anything. Craig D. Lounsbrough
Revolution meant shattering one structure and creating another one, but shattering was easier than creating, and so the two parts of the act were not necessarily fated to be equally successful. In that sense, building a revolution was like building an arch; until both columns were there, and the keystone in place, practically any disruption could bring the whole thing crashing down. Kim Stanley Robinson
Realize building a cobblestone path to your destination requires laying down one stone at a time. Jeffrey G. Duarte
The earliest forms of building regulations were laws enacted by individual cities in response to a specific need. J. Stanley Rabun
New York was one of the first cities to regulate building regulation, with the Building Law of 1813. J. Stanley Rabun
By the middle of the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century, most larger cities in America had a building law. J. Stanley Rabun
It will be necessary as a building is analyzed to have at least conceptual knowledge to which loads the original architect or engineer was designing for. J. Stanley Rabun
The early settlers of the Virginia Colony brought English building traditions of the late medieval period to America and initially used the building materials that were readily available and that they were familiar with, notably wood. J. Stanley Rabun
As the body of a man is arranged with voids, entrances and hollow places for its maintenance, so the building needs them too. Alexander Tzonis
As the major part of the beauty of a man is in his face, so it should be with the building. Alexander Tzonis
A general rule is that the size of materials should be proportionate to the grandeur of the building and its character. Alexander Tzonis
Frank Woolworth, farm boy risen to retail tycoon, had a great dream: to build the tallest building in the world bearing his name. Ivan Žaknić
Rockefeller Center as a whole is the world's largest privately owned business and entertainment center, part of a 22-acre complex inn midtown. Ivan Žaknić
The Woolworth building was the first to have its own power plant, which generates enough electricity for 5000 people. Ivan Žaknić
In 1986 Tokyo's city government decided it was time for a new building to meet its needs. A design competition was held for the new headquarters of Tokyo's metropolitan government plaza. Ivan Žaknić
Built in 1963, the 59-story MetLife Building, known for years as the Pan Am Building, was the largest commercial office building of its time, accommodating 250,000 daily visitors and 17,000 office workers. Ivan Žaknić
These numbered cliffs and gnarls of masonry / Outskeleton Time's central city, Rome / Whereof each arch, entablature, and dom / Lies bare in all its gaunt anatomy. Thomas Hardy
Skyscrapers… remote, unpartisan / Turning neither to the right nor left / Your imperturbable fronts… / Austerely greeting the sun / With one chilly finger of stone…. Lola Ridge
Almost every component of a building serves more than one function, with some components commonly serving ten or more simultaneously, and these functions are heavily interdependent. Edward Allen
If we decide to build the partitions in a school building of thin sheets of gypsum wallboard over a framework of steel studs, instead of bricks and mortar, we will affect the thermal properties of the building Edward Allen
A building has its own ecology, a delicate internal balance of connected mechanisms that function not in isolation but as a richly interconnected whole. Edward Allen
Each material used in building construction has its own unique set of physical properties relative to the flow of heat. Edward Allen
An important part of a designer's job is to select and combine building materials in such a way as to result in a building whose enclosure performs as much of the building's climate-control function as possible, leaving as little work as possible to be done by energy-consuming heating and cooling systems. Edward Allen
The enclosure of a building, quite independently of any mechanical heating or cooling systems, does a great deal to modify the temperature and humidity of the interior air. Edward Allen
Humidity is reduced in a well-designed building by the exclusion of both ground dampness and precipitation. Edward Allen
A large building has many local service panels for its various floors and zones, each such zone has wiring much like that of a house. Edward Allen
A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable. Louis Kahn
You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality. Walt Disney
Every great building once begun as a building plan. That means, sitting in that building plan on the table is a mighty structure not yet seen. It is the same with dreams. Israelmore Ayivor
Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries. Victor Hugo
We build buildings which are terribly restless. And buildings don't go anywhere. They shouldn't be restless. Minoru Yamasaki
Each of us is carving a stone, erecting a column, or cutting a piece of stained glass in the construction of something much bigger than ourselves. Adrienne Clarkson
One great building does not make a great city. Thomas Heatherwick
When we build, let us think that we build forever. John Ruskin
Good buildings come from good people, and all problems are solved by good design. Stephen Gardiner
It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it is the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time. David Allan Coe
Building a temple didn't mean you believed in gods, it just meant you believed in architecture. Terry Pratchett
A building without ornamentation is like a heaven without stars. George Sandys
We built tall buildings, but we have not become any taller. Dejan Stojanovic
If a building looks better under construction than it does when finished, then it's a failure. Douglas Coupland
Part of building a new nation means building a spirit of tolerance, love and respect amongst the people of this country. Nelson Mandela
Architecture is the very mirror of life. You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society. I.M. Pei
Building your own home is about desire, fantasy. But it's achievable; anyone can do it. Kevin McCloud
Either a building is part of a place or it is not. Once that kinship is there, time will only make it stronger. Willa Cather
A building has integrity just like a man. And just as seldom. Ayn Rand
A building is not just a place to be but a way to be. Frank Lloyd Wright
A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. It's not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it. Helmut Jahn
To me, a building if it's beautiful is the love of one man, he's made it out of his love for space, materials, things like that. Martha Graham
We shape our buildings: Thereafter, they shape us. Winston Churchill
One of the saddest things that people are still hanging on is the spirit of the fortress, the spirit of building a house that's going to enslave them, instead of living their life with light building material that is deciduous. Lloyd Kahn
The leading 'real' asset owned by many financial institutions, along with gold, is buildings. David Crichton