Frank Lloyd Wright's Greatest Quotes

"Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change."

Yes, Frank Lloyd Wright was full of himself; but, in his case it was for good reason. He was the greatest architect of the 20th century and maybe all time. While, the following quotes may seem egomaniacal in some cases, consider the source.

On actress Marilyn Monroe: "I think Miss Monroe as architecture is extremely good architecture." (In 1957, Wright designed a house for Marilyn and her playwright husband Arthur Miller. It was never built.)

Advice to apprentices: "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."

On architecture:

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise clients to plant vines."

"A building is not just a place to be. It is a way to be."

"Architecture is the triumph of Human Imagination over materials, methods, and men."

"If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it."

"For 500 years, what we call architecture has been phony."

"Whatever man might build could never express or reflect more than he was."

"Less is only more when more is no good."

On modern cities:

"Tip the world on its and everything loose will wind up in Los Angeles."

(Boston) "Clear out 800,000 people and preserve it as a museum piece."

"I doubt if there's anything in the world uglier than a Midwestern city."

(New York) "Prison towers and posters for soap and whiskey."

On modern life:

"(Machines have) "been too far exploited by industrialism and science at expense to art and true religion."

"Television is like chewing gum for the eyes."

"... one day somebody will find the solution to the problems of the world and, remember, it will be a poet not a scientist."

On the mind:

"An idea is salvation by imagination.

"The truth is more important than the facts."

"There is nothing more uncommon than common sense."

"The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind."

"I don't like intellectuals. They are from the top down not from the ground up."

"Harvard takes perfectly good plums as students and turns them into prunes."