Churchill, Winston -- Speech, House of Commons (28 Oct 1943)

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:34:21 +0000

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.

Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British statesman and author
Speech, House of Commons (28 Oct 1943)
(Source)

During the debate over rebuilding the House of Commons, which had been destroyed during a German bombing.

Fuller, Buckminster -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:45:06 +0000

We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, engineer
(Attributed)

Quoted in L. Steven Sieden, A Fuller View (2012).

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Hocus Pocus (1990)

Dave — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 14:45:53 +0000

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Hocus Pocus (1990)
(Source)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 75 (1948)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

One will weave the canvas; another will fell a tree by the light of his ax. Yet another will forge nails, and there will be others who observe the stars to learn how to navigate. And yet all will be as one. Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love.

[Celui-là tissera des toiles, l’autre dans la forêt par l’éclair de sa hache couchera l’arbre. L’autre, encore, forgera des clous, et il en sera quelque part qui observeront les étoiles afin d’apprendre à gouverner. Et tous cependant ne seront qu’un. Créer le navire ce n’est point tisser les toiles, forger les clous, lire les astres, mais bien donner le goût de la mer qui est un, et à la lumière duquel il n’est plus rien qui soit contradictoire mais communauté dans l’amour.]

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) French writer, aviator
Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 75 (1948)

(Source (French))

This looks to be the origin of the following, more common attributions to Saint-Exupery:

"If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea."
"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men and women to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the workers to gather wood, don't divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

This quotation (and variation) are discussed here: Teach Them to Yearn for the Vast and Endless Sea – Quote Investigator. That article may in fact be the source of the English translation above; the standard translation does not translate much of ch. 75 as found in the above French. It includes only:

Instill in a people’s heart the love of sailing ships, and it will draw into itself all that is fervent in your land and transmute it into sails and rigging.
[tr. Gilbert (1950)]

WIST Quotations

Churchill, Winston -- Speech, House of Commons (28 Oct 1943)

Fuller, Buckminster -- (Attributed)

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Hocus Pocus (1990)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 75 (1948)