“Stone can effectively resist compression but is relatively weak in tension. Because of its mass and weight it may be used advantageously in structural types that can be made stable by the proper weight (dead load, gravity) and are but slightly exposed to lateral forces.”

“the gravity of a substance depends not on the amount of its weight, but on its nature.”

“Long before… our techniques of today, men could conceive and build structures adapted to the requirements of resistance… because he had observed… the branches of a tree bending under the weight of fruits and the tensioned cords of strings in which children have rocked from time immemorial…”

“Equilibrium requires that the whole of the structure, the form of its elements, and the means of interconnection be so combined that at the supports there will automatically be produced passive forces or reactions that are able to balance the forces acting upon the structures, including the force of its own weight.”

“The techno-industrial system is exceptionally tough due to its so-called "democratic" structure and its resulting flexibility. Because dictatorial systems tend to be rigid, social tensions and resistance can be built up in them to the point where they damage and weaken the system and may lead to revolution. But in a "democratic" system, when social tension and resistance build up dangerously the system backs off enough, it compromises enough, to bring the tensions down to a safe level.”

“[M]aterials should resist mechanical forces and other effects… starting with all types of loading and external forces… and with the mechanical properties of the materials… constitutes the part given most emphasis in technical books and schools.”

“Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.”

“Paris is a place in which we can forget ourselves, reinvent, expunge the dead weight of our past.”

“Resistance to the organized mass can be effected only by the man who is as well organized in his individuality as the mass itself.”

“When the weight of the paper equals the weight of the airplane, only then you can go flying.”