William H. Whyte Quotes

• 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

  Urbanization, Cities, Space

  William H. Whyte (2012). “City: Rediscovering the Center”, p.109, University of Pennsylvania Press

  78 Copy quote

• What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.

  William H. Whyte

  People

  61 Copy quote

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

  William H. Whyte

  Cities, Rivers, Together

  William H. Whyte (2012). “City: Rediscovering the Center”, p.7, University of Pennsylvania Press

  69 Copy quote

• People tend to sit where there are places to sit

  William H. Whyte

  People

  29 Copy quote

• If you want to seed a place with activity, the first thing to do is to put out food.

  William H. Whyte

  Want, Seeds, Activity

  "City: Rediscovering the Center".

  32 Copy quote

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

  William H. Whyte

  Taken, Problem, Combat

  57 Copy quote

• It’s not right to put water before people and then keep them away from it.

  William H. Whyte

  People, Water

  William H. Whyte (2012). “City: Rediscovering the Center”, p.139, University of Pennsylvania Press

  24 Copy quote

• 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

  Tree, Citizens, Next

  24 Copy quote

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

  William H. Whyte

  Dimensions, Forgotten, Architect

  15 Copy quote

• 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

  Change, Thinking, People

  William H. Whyte (2013). “The Organization Man”, p.51, University of Pennsylvania Press

  27 Copy quote

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

  William H. Whyte

  People, Goal, Different

  17 Copy quote

• 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

  Differences, Goal, Acquiescence

  William H. Whyte (2013). “The Organization Man”, p.10, University of Pennsylvania Press

  17 Copy quote

• 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

  Years, Land, People

  William H. Whyte (2012). “The Last Landscape”, p.1, University of Pennsylvania Press

  17 Copy quote

• 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

  Sympathy, Home, Class

  24 Copy quote

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