What is the thread of western civilization that distinguished its course in history? It has to do with the preoccupation of western man with his outward command and his sense of superiority. – Arthur Erickson
Roman civilization had achieved, within the bounds of its technology, relatively as great a mastery of time and space as we have achieved today. – Arthur Erickson
Rationalism is the enemy of art, though necessary as a basis for architecture. – Arthur Erickson
The way of architecture is the quiet voice that underlies it and has guided it from the beginning. – Arthur Erickson
One of the deepest impulses in man is the impulse to record, – to scratch a drawing on a tusk or keep a diary, to collect sagas and heap cairns. This instinct as to the enduring value of the past is, one might say, the very basis of civilization. – John Jay Chapman, Memories and Milestones