“The spire is the simplest part of the romanesque or gothic architecture, and needs least study in order to be felt. It is a bit of sentiment almost pure of practical purpose. It tells the whole of its story at a glance, and its story is the best that architecture had to tell, for it typified the aspirations of man at the moment when man's aspirations were highest.”

—  Henry Adams

Mont Saint Michel and Chartres (1904)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The spire is the simplest part of the romanesque or gothic architecture, and needs least study in order to be felt. It …" by Henry Adams?
Henry Adams photo
Henry Adams 311
journalist, historian, academic, novelist 1838–1918

Related quotes

Robert Penn Warren photo
Justus Dahinden photo
C.G. Jung photo

“I don't aspire to be a good man. I aspire to be a whole man.”

C.G. Jung (1875–1961) Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology
Shannon Hale photo
Marshall McLuhan photo

“Scribal culture and Gothic architecture were both concerned with light through, not light on.”

Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …

Source: 1960s, The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), p. 120

Edwidge Danticat photo
Samuel Adams photo

“If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.”

Samuel Adams (1722–1803) American statesman, Massachusetts governor, and political philosopher

Letter to James Warren (24 October 1780) http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2094

“Opera, next to Gothic architecture, is one of the strangest inventions of western man. It could not have been foreseen by any logical process.”

Kenneth Clark (1903–1983) Art historian, broadcaster and museum director

Source: Civilisation (1969), Ch. 9: The Pursuit of Happiness

Related topics