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William H. Whyte Biography

William H. Whyte

William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte (October 1, 1917 – January 12, 1999) was an American urbanist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher. After his book about corporate culture The Organization Man (1956) which sold over two million copies, Whyte turned his attention to the study of human behaviour in urban settings. He published several books on the topic, including The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980).

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William H. Whyte Quotes

The human backside is a dimension architects seem to have forgotten.

Architect, Architects, Dimension, Dimensions, Forgotten, Human

If you want to seed a place with activity, put out food.

Activity, Food, Place, Seeds, Want

People do not always argue because they misunderstand one another, they argue because they hold different goals.

Different, Goal, Goals, Hold, People

People tend to sit where there are places to sit

People, Places, Sit, Tend

What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.

Appear, Attracts, People

It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.

Accomplished, Cities, Design, Difficult, Space, Urbanization

So-called 'undesirables' are not the problem. It is the measures taken to combat them that is the problem.

Combat, Measures, Problem, Taken, Undesirables

Trees are contagious; as soon as one neighborhood or street is planted, citizen pressure builds up for action from the next street.

Builds, Citizen, Citizens, Contagious, Next, Tree

Nonconformity is an empty goal, and rebellion against prevailing opinion merely because it is prevailing should no more be praised than acquiescence to it. Indeed, it is often a mask for cowardice, and few are more pathetic than those who flaunt outer differences to expiate their inner surrender.

Acquiescence, Differences, Flaunt, Goal, Opinion, Prevailing

The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.

Cities, Come, Place, Rivers, Street, Together

The onlooker had better wipe the sympathy off his face. What he has seen is a revolution, not the home of little cogs and drones. What he has seen is the dormitory of the next managerial class.

Class, Drones, Home, Sympathy

We have been the most prodigal of people with land, and for years we wasted it with impunity. There was so much of it, and no matter how we fouled it, there was always more over the next hill, or so it seemed.

Land, Matter, People, Prodigal, Seemed, Years

People very rarely think in groups; they talk together, they exchange information, they adjudicate, they make compromises. But they do not think; they do not create.

Change, Compromises, Create, People, Talk, Thinking

It’s not right to put water before people and then keep them away from it.

Away, Keep, People, Water