Civil Engineering Quotes

• Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man.

  Thomas Tredgold

  Art, Men, Engineering

  The Times, London, June 30, 1828.

  30 Copy quote

  Show source

• Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.

  James A. Michener

  Dream, Science, Technology

  James A. Michener (2014). “Space: A Novel”, p.537, Dial Press

  52 Copy quote

  Show source

• Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been.

  Albert Einstein

  Engineering, Design, Scientist

  114 Copy quote

• Take the best that exists and make it better.

  Henry Royce

  Engineering, Rolls Royce, Civil Engineer

  "Transforming the Organization". P. 85. Book by Francis J. Gouillart, 1996.

  85 Copy quote

  Show source

• Strive for perfection in everything you do.

  Henry Royce

  Engineering, Perfection, Strive

  "I Know You Got Soul". Rolls-Royce, p. 19. Book by Jeremy Clarkson, 2004.

  96 Copy quote

  Show source

• We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.

  Winston Churchill

  Leadership, Engineering, Shapes

  "The Best-laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future". Book by Randal O'Toole, p. 161, 2007.

  43 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.

  Scott Adams

  Anger, Engineering, Problem

  Scott Adams (1996). “The Dilbert principle: a cubicle's-eye view of bosses, meetings, management fads & other workplace afflictions”

  81 Copy quote

  Show source

• Go for civil engineering, because civil engineering is the branch of engineering which teaches you the most about managing people. Managing people is a skill which is very, very useful and applies almost regardless of what you do.

  John Harvey-Jones

  Engineering, Skills, People

  39 Copy quote
• 

  Architecture begins where engineering ends.

  Walter Gropius

  Engineering, Design, Architecture

  Speech at Harvard Department of Architecture. "Architects on Architecture". Book by Paul Heyer, 1966.

  83 Copy quote

  Show source

• Normal people... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

  Scott Adams

  Believe, People, Normal

  Scott Adams (1996). “The Dilbert principle: a cubicle's-eye view of bosses, meetings, management fads & other workplace afflictions”

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer's high privilege.

  Herbert Hoover

  Jobs, Moving, Home

  Herbert Hoover (1951). “The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: Years of adventure, 1874-1920”

  26 Copy quote

  Show source

• Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.

  William Blake

  Engineering, Genius, Improvement

  William Blake (2008). “The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake”, p.38, Univ of California Press

  30 Copy quote

  Show source

• Civil Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of Power in Nature for the use and convenience of man; being that practical application of the most important principles of natural Philosophy which has in a considerable degree realized the anticipations of Bacon, and changed the aspect and state of affairs in the whole world. The most important object of Civil Engineering is to improve the means of production and of traffic in states, both for external and internal Trade.

  Thomas Tredgold

  Art, Philosophy, Mean

  9 Copy quote

• I did graduate with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1948.

  Daniel J. Evans

  Inspirational, Funny, Graduation

  90 Copy quote

• I was in school studying civil engineering. A guy approached me on the street and said that I had a interesting look-very exotic. He told me I should try to be in the industry.

  Thuy Trang

  School, Engineering, Interesting

  89 Copy quote

• The story of civilization is, in a sense, the story of engineering-that long and arduous struggle to make the forces of nature work for man's good.

  L. Sprague de Camp

  Struggle, Men, Engineering

  L. Sprague de Camp (1963). “The Ancient Engineers”

  35 Copy quote

  Show source

• To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope.

  Herbert Hoover

  Jobs, Fall, Science

  Herbert Hoover (1952). “Memoirs: Years of adventure, 1874-1920”

  58 Copy quote

  Show source

• The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned.

  Herbert Hoover

  Mistake, Men, Doctors

  Herbert Hoover (1952). “Memoirs: Years of adventure, 1874-1920”

  73 Copy quote

  Show source

• Engineers are not superhuman. They make mistakes in their assumptions, in their calculations, in their conclusions. That they make mistakes is forgivable; that they catch them is imperative. Thus it is the essence of modern engineering not only to be able to check one's own work but also to have one's work checked and to be able to check the work of others.

  Henry Petroski

  Mistake, Engineering, Essence

  55 Copy quote

• Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men since they build their own monuments with public consent, public approval and often public money.

  John Prebble

  Men, Engineering, Approval

  John Prebble (1956). “Disaster at Dundee”

  52 Copy quote

  Show source

• A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering.

  Freeman Dyson

  Science, Ideas, Engineering

  "Disturbing the Universe". Book by Freeman Dyson, 1979.

  37 Copy quote

  Show source

• My father was a professor of civil engineering at MIT, and my mother taught high school English.

  Eric Allin Cornell

  Mother, Father, School

  72 Copy quote

• A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

  Douglas Adams

  Inspirational, Funny, Fake People

  Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five”, p.690, Pan Macmillan

  51 Copy quote

  Show source

• There can be little doubt that in many ways the story of bridge building is the story of civilisation. By it we can readily measure an important part of a people's progress.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Bridges, People, Doubt

  "Kurilpa Bridge". Book by Haig Beck, p. 72, 2012.

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• To define it rudely but not inaptly, engineering is the art of doing that well with one dollar which any bungler can do with two after a fashion.

  Arthur M. Wellington

  Fashion, Art, Science

  14 Copy quote