Frank Lloyd Wright Quotes

Powerful Frank Lloyd Wright for Daily Growth

About Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer, and educator who is widely regarded as one of the greatest architects of the 20th century. Born in Wisconsin, he was the eighth of nine children. Wright's love for architecture began at a young age, influenced by his mother, Anna Lloyd Jones, an accomplished pianist who instilled in him a deep appreciation for the arts. Wright apprenticed under the architect Joseph Silsbee after high school. However, it was his brief association with the celebrated architect Louis Sullivan that had the most profound impact on Wright's career. Together, they designed several significant buildings in Chicago, including the Auditorium Building (1889) and the Carson Pirie Scott Store (1899). The duo's collaboration culminated in Wright's famous quote: "Form follows function - and this is the modernist reinterpretation of truth." In 1901, Wright established his own practice in Oak Park, Illinois. His home and studio, known as Taliesin, would become a hub for his work and a school for aspiring architects, known as Taliesin Fellowship. Among his most famous works are the Unity Temple (Oak Park, IL, 1905), Fallingwater (Mill Run, PA, 1935), and the Guggenheim Museum (New York City, NY, 1959). Wright's architectural philosophy emphasized organic architecture – buildings that harmoniously integrate with nature. He believed that a building should be in harmony with its surroundings, a concept expressed in his designs through the use of local materials and open floor plans. Wright was also a pioneer in the use of modernist design elements such as open plans, flat roofs, and horizontal lines. Despite numerous personal challenges, including two devastating fires at Taliesin that resulted in deaths, Wright continued to produce groundbreaking designs until his death in 1959. His impact on American architecture is immeasurable, with over 500 built works still standing today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The architect's chief inestimable service to the human race is his conscientious working out of the principles that govern it in every detail, his steadfast adherence to these and his tireless advocacy of them."

This quote by Frank Lloyd Wright emphasizes the importance of an architect's duty to society through their work. By meticulously understanding and applying the fundamental principles that guide architecture, an architect serves humanity in a profound way. The tireless advocacy for these principles ensures the continued improvement and development of architectural design for the benefit of all people. This commitment to upholding architectural principles is a service to human race that transcends buildings; it shapes communities, enhances livability, and influences our collective sense of beauty and well-being.


"The truth is more important than the facts."

This quote by Frank Lloyd Wright implies that adhering to the inherent essence or core principle (the "truth") of a situation is more valuable than mere collection of data or details (the "facts"). In other words, understanding and upholding the underlying moral, ethical, or philosophical principles is essential, even if one may need to adapt or interpret facts to align with those principles. This idea can be useful in many contexts, such as ethics, communication, and decision-making.


"Form follows function - and this is the law."

Frank Lloyd Wright's quote "Form follows function - and this is the law" means that the shape or design of a building or object should be based on its intended purpose or function, rather than simply aesthetic considerations. In other words, practicality and utility come first in good design, with style following suit. This concept was central to Wright's philosophy and continues to influence architectural thinking today.


"A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his client to plant vines."

The quote signifies that in architecture, unlike medicine where errors can be concealed or rectified without much visibility, architectural mistakes are more permanent. An architect's blunders are exposed for all to see as the structure stands for years or even centuries. However, an architect's advice to their client about design improvements, like planting vines to hide flaws or beautify a space, can offer solutions that transform the project positively, making it a learning experience rather than a burden.


"The art and science of making a house is the art and science of order and cooling and adjusting all parts so that when the parts are put together, the whole is beautiful at all times to the eye and in all hours protected from the weather."

This quote by Frank Lloyd Wright emphasizes the importance of balance, harmony, and functionality in architectural design. He suggests that a well-designed home, or any building for that matter, should not only be aesthetically pleasing but also provide protection from external elements, ensuring its beauty is maintained at all times. The idea of 'order' refers to the arrangement of spaces and structures within the building, while 'cooling' could mean both a sense of calm and tranquility as well as energy efficiency. Essentially, Wright advocates for buildings that are not just visually appealing, but also livable, efficient, and enduring.


Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Strength, Bred, Lightness, Qualified

A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Made, Enriched, Architect, Cultivated

New York City is a great monument to the power of money and greed... a race for rent.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Money, New, Race, Rent

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Change, Humility, Reason, Hypocritical

An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Bar, Most, Eraser, Drafting

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Love, Learning, Never, Close

A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Doctor, Clients, His, Advise

The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines - so they should go as far as possible from home to build their first buildings.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Mistakes, Go, Architect, Advise

Eventually, I think Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Think, Will, I Think, Chicago

Life always rides in strength to victory, not through internationalism... but only through the direct responsibility of the individual.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Strength, Through, Always, Internationalism

Get the habit of analysis - analysis will in time enable synthesis to become your habit of mind.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Mind, Habit, Synthesis, Enable

To look at the cross-section of any plan of a big city is to look at something like the section of a fibrous tumor.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

City, Big, Like, Big City

All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Values, Fine, Else, Architectural

Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Over, Side, Los, Tip

A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Politics, Individual, Means, Expedient

Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Been, Form, Joined, Misunderstood

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Brainy, Common, Uncommon, Common Sense

Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Life, Give, Necessities, Willingly

The Lincoln Memorial is related to the toga and the civilization that wore it.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Civilization, Related, Memorial

Maybe we can show government how to operate better as a result of better architecture. Eventually, I think Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Think, Maybe, I Think, Great City

Television is chewing gum for the eyes.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Movies, Chewing Gum, Chewing

TV is chewing gum for the eyes.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Funny, Chewing Gum, TV, Chewing

Harvard takes perfectly good plums as students, and turns them into prunes.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Students, Them, Perfectly, Prune

Organic architecture seeks superior sense of use and a finer sense of comfort, expressed in organic simplicity.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Use, Finer, Superior, Organic

The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Shadow, Yesterday, Ever, Divides

God is the great mysterious motivator of what we call nature, and it has often been said by philosophers, that nature is the will of God. And I prefer to say that nature is the only body of God that we shall ever see.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Nature, Been, Prefer, Philosophers

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Technology, Finger, Limbs, Atrophy

Bureaucrats: they are dead at 30 and buried at 60. They are like custard pies; you can't nail them to a wall.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Like, Nail, Buried, Custard

Every great architect is - necessarily - a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Architecture, Original, Interpreter

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Nature, Only, Spell, I Believe

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