19 Quotes by William H. Whyte

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.

The I.B.M. machine has no ethic of its own; what it does is enable one or two people to do the computing work that formerly required many more people. If people often use it stupidly, it's their stupidity, not the machine's, and a return to the abacus would not exorcise the failing. People can be treated as drudges just as effectively without modern machines.

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

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

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

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

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

People tend to sit where there are places to sit.

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.