Top 61 Marcus Vitruvius Pollio Quotes
#1. Some springs are acid, as at Lyncestus and in Italy in the Velian country, at Teano in Campania, and in many other places. These when used in drinks have the power of breaking up stones in the bladder, which form in the human body.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#2. 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
#3. When the juices of trees have no means of escape, they clot and rot in them, making the trees hollow and good for nothing.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#4. 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
#5. From prescription, in the case of hypaethral edifices, open to the sky, in honor of Jupiter Lightning, the Heaven, the Sun, or the Moon: for these are gods whose semblances and manifestations we behold before our very eyes in the sky when it is cloudless and bright.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#6. 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
#7. 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
#8. 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
#9. 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
#10. 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
#11. There are ... many ... names for winds derived from localities or from the squalls which sweep from rivers or down mountains.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#13. 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
#14. 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
#15. 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
#16. An architect ought to be an educated man so as to leave a more lasting remembrance in his treatises.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#17. 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
#18. Of course, we need not be surprised if artistic excellence goes unrecognized on account of being unknown; but there should be the greatest indignation when, as often, good judges are flattered by the charm of social entertainments into an approbation which is a mere a pretence.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#19. All machinery is derived from nature, and is founded on the teaching and instruction of the revolution of the firmament.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#22. 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
#23. There are also kinds of water that cause death, as they run through harmful juices in the soil and become poisonous.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#24. Some people do indeed say that Eratosthenes could not have inferred the true measure of the earth. Whether true or untrue, it cannot affect the truth of what I have written on the fixing of the quarters from which the different winds blow.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#25. 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
#26. There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#27. While all bodies are composed of the four elements, that is, of heat, moisture, the earthy, and air, yet there are mixtures according to natural temperament which make up the natures of all the different animals of the world, each after its kind.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#28. 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
#29. In order that the mortar in the joints may not suffer from frosts, drench it with oil-dregs every year before winter begins. Thus treated, it will not let the hoarfrost enter it.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#30. 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
#31. 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
#33. In fact, all kinds of men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work ...
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#35. A liberal education forms ... a single body. Those, therefore, who from tender years receive instruction in the various forms of learning, recognize the same stamp on all the arts, and an intercourse between all studies, and so they more readily comprehend them all.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#36. 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
#37. 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
#38. 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
#39. Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry , Propriety , and Economy.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#40. 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
#41. 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
#43. There are also half bricks ... As the bricks are always laid so as to break joints, this lends strength and a not unattractive appearance to both sides of such walls.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#44. Propriety is that perfection of style which comes when a work is authoritatively constructed on approved principles. It arises from prescription, from usage, or from nature.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#45. The proper form of economy must be observed in building houses for each and every class.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#46. 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
#47. 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
#48. 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
#49. 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
#50. 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
#51. Altars should face the east, and should always be placed on a lower level than are the statues in the temples, so that those who are praying and sacrificing may look upwards towards the divinity.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#52. From food and water, then, we may learn whether sites are naturally unhealthy or healthy.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#53. Nothing suffers annihilation, but at dissolution there is a change, and things fall back to the essential element in which they were before.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#54. 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
#55. 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
#57. The design of a temple depends on symmetry , the principles of which must be most carefully observed by the architect.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#58. 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
#59. 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
#60. With the ripening of the fruits in Autumn the leaves begin to wither and the trees, taking up their sap from the earth through the roots, recover themselves and are restored to their former solid texture. But the strong air of winter compresses and solidifies them.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
#61. 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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