William Whyte Quotes

#1. The great enemy of communication, we find, is the illusion of it. We have talked enough; but we have not listened. And by not listening we have failed to concede the immense complexity of our society - and thus the great gaps between ourselves and those with whom we seek understanding.

William H. Whyte

#2. The onlooker had better wipe the sympathy off his face. What he has seen is a revolution, not the home of little cogs and drones. What he has seen is the dormitory of the next managerial class.

William H. Whyte

#3. The same man who will quote from Benjamin Franklin on thrift for the house organ would be horrified if consumers took these maxims to heart and started putting more money into savings and less into installment purchases.

William H. Whyte

#4. People do not always argue because they misunderstand one another, they argue because they hold different goals.

William H. Whyte

#5. Trees are contagious; as soon as one neighborhood or street is planted, citizen pressure builds up for action from the next street.

William H. Whyte

#6. It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.

William H. Whyte

#7. If you want to seed a place with activity, put out food.

William H. Whyte

#8. Whatever their occupation, almost all organization people feel their particular job is depression-proof.

William H. Whyte

#9. The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.

William H. Whyte

#10. The spectacle of people following current custom for lack of will or imagination to do anything else is hardly a new failing.

William H. Whyte

#11. What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.

William H. Whyte

#12. People very rarely think in groups; they talk together, they exchange information, they adjudicate, they make compromises. But they do not think; they do not create.

William H. Whyte

#13. I want you as my consort.. until death do us part, and then forever after that

Amy A. Bartol

#14. It's not right to put water before people and then keep them away from it.

William H. Whyte

#15. nobody knew i was broken, that my body reared up and betrayed me on a regular basis.

M. Suzanne Oliver

#16. Society is itself an education in the extrovert values, and rarely has there been a society that has preached them so hard. No man is an island, but how John Donne would writhe to hear how often, and for what reasons, the thought is so tiresomely repeated.

William H. Whyte

#17. So-called 'undesirables' are not the problem. It is the measures taken to combat them that is the problem.

William H. Whyte

#18. Most are interested in the philosophical only to the extent of finding out what the accepted view is in order that they may accept it and get on to the practical matters.

William H. Whyte

#19. Thoreau once said if you see a man approach you with the obvious intent of doing you good, you should run for your life; it is hard to restrain the impulse in talking with social engineers.

William H. Whyte

#20. Nonconformity is an empty goal, and rebellion against prevailing opinion merely because it is prevailing should no more be praised than acquiescence to it. Indeed, it is often a mask for cowardice, and few are more pathetic than those who flaunt outer differences to expiate their inner surrender.

William H. Whyte

#21. We have been the most prodigal of people with land, and for years we wasted it with impunity. There was so much of it, and no matter how we fouled it, there was always more over the next hill, or so it seemed.

William H. Whyte

#22. People tend to sit where there are places to sit

William H. Whyte

#23. It's the same with menus and men and just about anything else: we think we're choosing things for ourselves, but in fact we may not be choosing anything. It could be that everthing's being decided in advance and we pretend we're making choices. Free will may be an illusion. I often think that.

Haruki Murakami

#24. I pulled out my phone as I hurried along and texted Abby, U OK? I had to stop while I texted because I am not a teenager.

Chris Fabry

#25. The human backside is a dimension architects seem to have forgotten.

William H. Whyte

#26. A young man who is unable to commit a folly is already an old man.

Paul Gauguin