Cecily von Ziegesar Quotes

... the random talk of people who have no chance of immortality and thus can speak their minds out has a setting, often, of lights, streets, houses, human beings, beautiful or grotesque, which will weave itself into the moment for ever.

Tower'd cities please us then, And the busy hum of men.

I chose my house because I loved the fact that there was a really busy road with lots of things to stare at.

People are the nature of the city, and you can feel it in the pavement.

The real is always presented. That hardcore record or movie is not needed in the hood, because it's already there. You can see it with your own eyes.

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where people are in cars.

I'm a country boy who hasn't really been exposed to city living, and it throws me.

I don't want to sound like some old person pining for how things used to be, because I'm not. But walking down the street, for example, used to be a public activity; you'd see the other people.

New York City is filled with the same kind of people I left New Jersey to get away from.

I like to walk around Manhattan, catching glimpses of its wild life, the pigeons and cats and girls.

In the house, and on the street, how many, many feet you meet.

She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could situate herself in human time and history. She missed people. She missed human intrigue, drama and power struggles. She needed her own species, not to talk to, necessarily, but just to be among, as a bystander in a crowd or an anonymous witness.

Cities degrade us by magnifying trifles.

To one who has been long in city pent, ’Tis very sweet to look into the fair And open face of heaven, — to breathe a prayer Full in the smile of the blue firmament.

On Melbourne summer mornings the green trams go rolling in stately progress down tunnels thick with leaves: the bright air carries along the avenue their patient chime, the chattering of their wheels.

You see the lighted windows and what you want to think is that there may be many interesting stories behind them, but what you know is that really there are just dull, dull souls, mere consumers of food, who think their instincts are emotions and their tiny lives of more account than a whisper of wind.

Belgrade is the ugliest city in the world in the most beautiful place in the world.

If I miss anything, it's being able to hang out in the city of New York meeting people and talking to them on the corner.

Because it was starting to get dark, and because the streets were crowded, I bumped into a googolplex people. Who were they? Where were they going? What were they looking for? I wanted to hear their heartbeats, and I wanted them to hear mine.

The magic of the street is the mingling of the errand and the epiphany.

Place has always been important to me, and one thing today's Chicago exudes, as it did in 1893, is a sense of place. I fell in love with the city, the people I encountered, and above all the lake and its moods, which shift so readily from season to season, day to day, even hour to hour.

If I had my wilderness, nature could be my lover. What can I do in the paved streets for my thirsty roots? I waste time. I encourage fools. I slip the vital hours into penny slot machines -- to pass time, to start my stuck wheels only love can oil.

I always enjoy Oslo. It's a beautiful city, especially on a cold winter day.

When we deal with cities we are dealing with life at its most complex and intense. Planners are guided by principles derived from the behaviour and appearance of suburbs, tuberculosis sanatoria, fairs and imaginary dream cities - from anything but cities themselves.