--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The automobile, both a cause and an…" description: "\"The automobile, both a cause and an effect of this decentralization, is ideally suited for our vast landscape and our generally confused and contrary c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/brock-yates-20099_automobile_the-automobile-both-a-cause-and-an-effec_2629676.png" --- # The automobile, both a cause and an effect of this… ![“The automobile, both a cause and an effect of this decentralization, is ideally suited for our vast landscape and our generally confused and contrary commuting patterns.” quote by Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/brock-yates-20099_automobile_the-automobile-both-a-cause-and-an-effec_2629676.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/brock-yates-20099_automobile_the-automobile-both-a-cause-and-an-effec_2629676.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/brock-yates-20099_automobile_the-automobile-both-a-cause-and-an-effec_2629676.png) > “The automobile, both a cause and an effect of this decentralization, is ideally suited for our vast landscape and our generally confused and contrary commuting patterns.” [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cars both cause and result from decentralization, fitting a sprawling landscape and confusing commuting patterns. **In simple terms:** Cars reflect and shape decentralized, chaotic commuting. Key Takeaway Design transport that reduces reliance on cars. Themes transportation decentralization urban planning commuting Mood analytical concerned Type strategic inspirational When to use this quote - City planning - regional transit development - remote work policies - environmental impact studies Key Concepts Mobility ecosystems sprawl dynamics infrastructure feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - How does car dependence affect community cohesion? - What alternatives can improve commuting efficiency? A Different Perspective Focusing on cars may ignore alternative sustainable modes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Automobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) [Automobile Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile-cause-2178612/) [Car](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/car/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Commuting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commuting/) [Commuting Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commuting-patterns-2178613/) [Confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Contrary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contrary/) [Decentralization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decentralization/) [Decentralization Ideally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decentralization-ideally-2178614/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) ## Related quotes > [The appeal of the Riverside 500 was based on that overall spectacle of witnessing a mob of brightly colored, bellowing automobiles gamboling over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/the-appeal-of-the-riverside-500-was-based-on-that-overall-spectacle/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Why the hell not run a race across the United States? A balls-out, shoot-the-moon, f\*\*\*-the-establishment rumble from New York to Los Angeles to prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/why-the-hell-not-run-a-race-across-the-united-states-a-balls-out/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [If any vestige of the American automobile industry is to survive, it must involve state-of-the-art vehicles that are not equal to but surpass the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/if-any-vestige-of-the-american-automobile-industry-is-to-survive-it/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [At Car and Driver, we were convinced that the automobile, as we knew and loved it, was as dead as the passenger pigeon. Ralph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/at-car-and-driver-we-were-convinced-that-the-automobile-as-we-knew/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [While greenies and their media flunkies continue to savage the gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine and rhapsodize about hybrids, hydrogen, electrics, natural gas, propane, nuclear, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/while-greenies-and-their-media-flunkies-continue-to-savage-the/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [“once we wrapped the globe in endless circles of wires crossing the deserts and beneath the oceans, decentralization was not only possible, but inevitable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/once-we-wrapped-the-globe-in-endless-circles-of-wires-crossing-the/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Its true that contemporary technology permits decentralization, it also permits centralization. It depends on how you use the technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/its-true-that-contemporary-technology-permits-decentralization-it/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The real trick in highly reliable systems is somehow to achieve simultaneous centralization and decentralization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-e-weick/the-real-trick-in-highly-reliable-systems-is-somehow-to-achieve/) [Karl E. Weick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-e-weick/) > [I would consider a socialism a mixture of the minimum of centralization necessary for a modern industrial state, and a maximum of decentralization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/i-would-consider-a-socialism-a-mixture-of-the-minimum-of/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“Algorithm without humanity is mental holocaust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/algorithm-without-humanity-is-mental-holocaust/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Decentralization demands both vertical and horizontal deconcentration of services, wealth and power to the long neglected at no political cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ba/decentralization-demands-both-vertical-and-horizontal-deconcentration/) [Ba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ba/) > [Khadi mentality means decentralization of the production and distribution of the necessaries of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/khadi-mentality-means-decentralization-of-the-production-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [American airstrikes...create risks, especially if our intelligence there is rusty. The crucial step, and the one we should apply diplomatic pressure to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/american-airstrikes-create-risks-especially-if-our-intelligence-there/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [The Hacker Ethic: Access to computers--and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works--should be unlimited and total. Always yield…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-levy/the-hacker-ethic-access-to-computers-and-anything-which-might-teach/) [Steven Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-levy/) > [From the time I first understood economic principles, I was always concerned also that any system be operated on an efficient basis, which meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-arrow/from-the-time-i-first-understood-economic-principles-i-was-always/) [Kenneth Arrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-arrow/) ## More by Brock Yates > [They still talk about the night that Augie Pabst, a fresh-faced heir to the brewing fortune, drove a rented Falcon into the swimming pool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/they-still-talk-about-the-night-that-augie-pabst-a-fresh-faced-heir/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Had I been more responsible I might have made something of myself as a junk bond trader, long-haul trucker or perhaps a plumbing contractor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/had-i-been-more-responsible-i-might-have-made-something-of-myself-as/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Unlike conventional jocks, who tend to sell aluminum siding and give canned speeches to parochial-school athletic banquets in the off-season, race drivers never shuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/unlike-conventional-jocks-who-tend-to-sell-aluminum-siding-and-give/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [More books, more racing and more foolishness with cars and motorcycles are in the works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/more-books-more-racing-and-more-foolishness-with-cars-and-motorcycles/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [The whole movie thing has never been a source of great pride for me, in that Burt Reynolds, who starred in the picture, butchered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/the-whole-movie-thing-has-never-been-a-source-of-great-pride-for-me/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [I admit to wasting my life messing around with fast cars and motorcycles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/i-admit-to-wasting-my-life-messing-around-with-fast-cars-and/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Regardless, I did rise to the editorship before embarking on a freelance career in the late '60's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/regardless-i-did-rise-to-the-editorship-before-embarking-on-a/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Some critics of racing witlessly claim that spectators only attend to see someone die. This is utter and complete nonsense. I have been at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/some-critics-of-racing-witlessly-claim-that-spectators-only-attend-to/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [The bicycle is a former child's toy that has now been elevated to icon status because, presumably, it can move the human form from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/the-bicycle-is-a-former-child-s-toy-that-has-now-been-elevated-to/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Some guy once told me that skydiving is like cutting your throat and seeing if you can get to the doctor before you bleed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/some-guy-once-told-me-that-skydiving-is-like-cutting-your-throat-and/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [A written regulation in NASCAR is about as reliable as an Egyptian immigration law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/a-written-regulation-in-nascar-is-about-as-reliable-as-an-egyptian/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [ To be sure, \[NASCAR\] stars were initially ex-bootleggers for the most part drawn from that talent pool in the Carolinas hills: "good ol' boys"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/to-be-sure-nascar-stars-were-initially-ex-bootleggers-for-the-most/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Will a day come when our cars have carbon-fiber tubs, 18,000-rpm V-10 engines, and ground-effects tunnels? Perhaps, about the same time we have condos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/will-a-day-come-when-our-cars-have-carbon-fiber-tubs-18-000-rpm-v-10/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge and they actually looked like "stock cars." Now they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/there-was-a-day-when-you-could-identify-a-nascar-ford-chevrolet-or/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [While greenies and their media flunkies continue to savage the gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine and rhapsodize about hybrids, hydrogen, electrics, natural gas, propane, nuclear, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/while-greenies-and-their-media-flunkies-continue-to-savage-the/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) [Explore all 31 Brock Yates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) ## More Automobile quotes > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-that-he-cannot-be-and-is-a/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The power of branding, particularly when it comes to automobiles, is overwhelming. You go back to the seventies and eighties with the General Motor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-power-of-branding-particularly-when-it-comes-to-automobiles-is/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama's leadership through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-wasserman-schultz/democrats-are-going-to-proudly-run-on-the-fact-that-we-turned-the/) [Debbie Wasserman Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-wasserman-schultz/) > [... in spite of being happier than I ever dreamed I could be, I'm also soberer. The fear that something may happen to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/in-spite-of-being-happier-than-i-ever-dreamed-i-could-be-i-m-also/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [But it is my total conviction that all the trappings of good leadership are generic and widely applicable whether you are standing in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cosgrove/but-it-is-my-total-conviction-that-all-the-trappings-of-good/) [Peter Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cosgrove/) > [You can see what man made from the seat of an automobile, but the best way to see what God made is from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marion-russell/you-can-see-what-man-made-from-the-seat-of-an-automobile-but-the-best/) [Charles Marion Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-marion-russell/) > [The electronics industry expanded rapidly and the seeds for the semiconductor and software revolution were planted. The postwar period also saw the suburbanization of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/the-electronics-industry-expanded-rapidly-and-the-seeds-for-the/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I'm a huge fan of John Hughes and can say that 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is easily a top 3 favorite. I'm also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-mcpartlin/i-m-a-huge-fan-of-john-hughes-and-can-say-that-planes-trains-and/) [Ryan McPartlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-mcpartlin/) > [“Most people do not realize that they are one car crash away from death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/most-people-do-not-realize-that-they-are-one-car-crash-away-from-death/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [This country has achieved its commercial and financial supremacy under a regime of private ownership. 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