Quotes About Urban

In rapid succession we passed through the fringe of fashionable London, hotel London, theatrical London, literary London, commercial London, and, finally, maritime London, till we came to a riverside city of a hundred thousand souls, where the tenement houses swelter and reek with the outcasts of Europe.

I spent the night in town, for I came up yesterday

I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.

Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.

Our rich man hopped back and forth to the big city, seeing the money-grabbing, advice-giving lawyers. This one said this, that one said that, and the third one said neither this nor that, but, as you'd expect, something entirely different.

Men mold some cities, some cities mold men.

Some cities are shaped by people, and some cities shape people.

I confess to sudden rages. Walking in Midtown, rush hour's peak, people streaming in both directions, I find myself seething, ready to kill. Who are all these fucking people, and how is it fair, how is it even possible that all of them, these perfectly ordinary people, should be alive, when you --

You posted an essay, "How to Be a Flâneur," on the custom of urban strolling and loitering and its place in literary culture. You caught some flak for questioning whether there could really be such a thing as a flâneuse. You didn't think it was possible for a woman to wander the streets in the same spirit and manner as a man. A female pedestrian was subject to constant disruptions: stares

There was still the dirty snow, piles of it that looked like they were rotting, stained black, peppered with garbage. The white powder that loosed itself from the sky in small handfuls, like plaster falling from a ceiling, never managed to cover up the filth.

When I was grown up I wanted to crunch flowering almond trees, and take bites out of the the rainbow nougats of the sunset. Against the night sky of New York, the neon signs appeared to me like giant sweatmeats

Vast is the power of cities to reclaim the wanderer.

the prairie towns no more exist to serve the farmers who are their reason of existence than do the great capitals; they exist to fatten on the farmers, to provide for the townsmen large motors and social preferment; and, unlike the capitals, they do not give to the district in return for usury a stately and permanent center , but only this ragged camp. It is a parasitic Greek civilization--minus the civilization.

But she knew that she still had no plan in life, save always to go along the same streets, past the same people, to the same shops.

Manhattan peasants. Kind people, industrious people, generous to their aged, eager to find any desperate cure for the sickness of worry over losing the job. Most facile material for any rabble-rouser.

Have you ever thought about the grid of Manhattan?' It's like...a metaphor for life. You think you have the freedom to walk anywhere. But in fact... you are strictly controlled. Up or down. Left or right. Nothing in between. No other options.' Life should be like an open space...you should be able to walk in whatever direction you choose.

Becky! Love! Mum has pushed her way through her dancing guests to reach me. What's wrong? Has labor started? Honestly. My family has no idea about contemporary urban street dance trends.

New York 10022 October

Cities are obvious metaphors for life. We call roads arteries and so forth.

A great city is the place to escape the true drama of provincial life, and find solace in fantasy.

The life of the city cat is short but so sophisticated.

I do characters. I believe in that. I think people are interesting. Now, everybody that you meet in New York City thinks that their life is a movie.

I get recognised sometimes. But I just live my life. I get on the bus, I get on the subway, it's not a problem.

I think everyone should live in New York City if they ever get the chance at least once in their life. It's such a great place to live there's a different energy about living in the city.