The larch... is not only preserved from decay and the worm by the great bitterness of its sap, but also it cannot be kindled with fire nor ignite of ….

In all matters but particularly in architecture, that which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking and that which gives significance….

Consistency is found in that work whose whole and detail are suitable to the occasion. It arises from circumstance, custom, and nature..

Next I must tell about the machine of Ctesibius, which raises water to a height..

In felling a tree we should cut into the trunk of it to the very heart, and then leave it standing so that the sap may drain out drop by drop through….

As regards the efficacy of the art and the theories of it, I promise and expect that in these volumes I shall undoubtedly show myself of very conside….

Of course, we need not be surprised if artistic excellence goes unrecognized on account of being unknown; but there should be the greatest indignatio….

Heat is a universal solvent, melting out of things their power of resistance, and sucking away and removing their natural strength with its fiery exh….

Dimension stone, flint, rubble, burnt or unburnt brick, use them as you find them. For it is not every neighborhood or particular locality that can h….

In setting out the walls of a city the choice of a healthy situation is of the first importance: it should be on high ground, neither subject to fogs….

In Sparta, paintings have been taken out of certain walls by cutting through the bricks, then have been placed in wooden frames, and so brought to th….

Dinocrates did not leave the king, but followed him into Egypt. There Alexander, observing a harbor rendered safe by nature, an excellent center for ….

Wind is a floating wave of air, whose undulation continually varies..

There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance..

The thickness of the walls should be sufficient for two armed men to pass each other with ease..

Thus by such victory, not by machines but in oppositions to the principle to the principles of machines, has the freedom of states been preserved by ….

I am moreover inclined to be concise when I reflect on the constant occupation of the citizens in public and private affairs, so that in their few le….

Proportion is that agreeable harmony between the several parts of a building, which is the result of a just and regular agreement of them with each o….

There are two styles of walls "opus reticulatum," now used by everybody and the ancient style called "opus incertum." Of these, the reticulatum looks….

Basilicas should be constructed on a site adjoining the forum and in the warmest possible quarter, so that in winter business men may gather in them ….

The difference between "machines" and "engines" is obviously this, that machines need more workmen and greater power to make them take effect, as for….