“The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature, …, is Astonishment; and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror. In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object that it cannot entertain any other, nor by consequence reason on that object which employs it. Hence arises the great power of the sublime, that far from being produced by them, it anticipates our reasonings, and hurries us on by an irresistible force. Astonishment, as I have said, is the effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the inferior effects are admiration, reverence, and respect.”

A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful , Burke (1757)

“Architecture is the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by man, that the sight of them may contribute to his mental health, power, and pleasure.”

“It is very necessary , in the outset of all inquiry, to distinguish carefully between Architecture and Building.”

“Let us, therefore, at once confine the name (Architecture) to that art which taking up and admitting, as conditions of its working, the necessities and commons uses of the building, impresses on its form certain characters venerable or beautiful, but otherwise unnecessary.”

“No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder.”

The Seven Lamps of Architecture, John Ruskin

“The art of combining masses”

“The architecture of shadows”

“Sterile riches”

“Smooth masses produce virile effects”

Architecture, essai sur l'art , Boullee

“An artist will not win distinction by shuffling along in the footsteps of other artists”

Architecture, essai sur l'art, Boullee

“To have satisfied necessity is trite and insignificant, to have catered to convenience unrewarding when the inelegance in a work causes offense.”

On the Art of Building in Ten Books, Alberti

“Beauty is that reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body, so that nothing may be added, taken away or altered, but for the worse.”

On the Art of Building in Ten Books, Alberti

“Thus, when--out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God--the loveliness of the many colored gems has called me away from external cares, and worthy meditation has induced me to reflect, … then it seems to me that I see myself dwelling, … in some strange region of the Universe which neither exists entirely in the slime of the earth nor entirely in the purity of Heaven; …”

De Administratione and

“Within this simple outline, then, I prefer such subdivision of the masses into detail as is strictly called for by the utilitarian requirements of the building; and that they should comport with its size, location and purpose. That the materials of construction should largely determine the special form of details, and above all, that there shall effuse from the completed structure a single sentiment which shall be the spiritual result of a prior and perfect understanding and assimilation of all the data.”

What is the Just Subordination in Architectural Design, of Details to Mass? 1887, Sullivan