"When one understands the principles of design, his taste will have something more solid as a basis than mere whim or fancy, which in the untutored is more likely to be bad than good. Acquainted with the rules of good design he will not accept articles made in defiance of them."

“The best art, and the only art which will ever lead to great results, must have for its basis the interpretation of beauty in nature.”

“Instead of the dormers, skylights... are easier to make and operate, need no double sash, cost less, and some may prefer their appearance.”

“One of the most ancient and inexpensive ways of obtaining shelter, was to utilize the space under sloping roof rafters. Indian wigwams have no other kind. Where civilization is slightly more advanced, low stone walls are built upon which the feet of the rafters rest.”

“In the human form, as nature tries to make it, every feature is useful and every feature is beautiful. Each member is perfectly adapted to the function it has to perform; nothing is superfluous, yet the whole and every part is supremely decorative.”

“It is hard to change long-established building habits; such habits sometimes endure for ages in certain localities with little or no change. It is, however, easy for new communities to acquire bad building habits.”

“Refinement. While the possession of this quality is due, in the first instance, to education, it is also largely a matter of temperament.”