--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does the perfect elevator look like…" description: "\"What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that will deliver us from the cities we suffer now, these stunted shacks? We don't know because we ca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/colson-whitehead-1042_angel_what-does-the-perfect-elevator-look-like_2795764.png" --- # What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that… ![“What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that will deliver us from the cities we suffer now, these stunted shacks? We don't know because we can't see inside it, it's something we cannot imagine, like the shape of angels' teeth. It's a black box.” quote by Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/colson-whitehead-1042_angel_what-does-the-perfect-elevator-look-like_2795764.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/colson-whitehead-1042_angel_what-does-the-perfect-elevator-look-like_2795764.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9df/colson-whitehead-1042_angel_what-does-the-perfect-elevator-look-like_2795764.png) > “What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that will deliver us from the cities we suffer now, these stunted shacks? We don't know because we can't see inside it, it's something we cannot imagine, like the shape of angels' teeth. It's a black box.” [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ideal solution is unseen and unimaginable, like a black box, because we lack vision of its form. **In simple terms:** Perfect solution is unseen. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty in innovation. Themes uncertainty imagination vision Mood curious analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - city planning - technology design - social reform Key Concepts black box future urban development Questions to Reflect On - How can we design without seeing the end? - What risks arise from unknown solutions? A Different Perspective Imagining the perfect may stall action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-box-351772/) [Boxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boxes/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Elevator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevator/) [Elevator Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevator-look-3412964/) [Elevators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevators/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Perfect Elevator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect-elevator-3412965/) [Shack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shack/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Stunted Shacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stunted-shacks-3412966/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Teeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth/) ## Related quotes > [“Larry Summers is one such rare insider. His question to me was in fact an invocation to reject the lure of the outside. 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He enters in one state of mind and exits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/now-i-began-to-understand-art-as-a-kind-of-black-box-the-reader/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The trick generally is to break programs into pieces and have those pieces be individually testable and so then when you move on to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-trick-generally-is-to-break-programs-into-pieces-and-have-those/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [“THE BLACK BOX MODEL WHY”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikael-krogerus/the-black-box-model-why/) [Mikael Krogerus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikael-krogerus/) > [Guys, it's like a little black box like this…wait, you stuck a box up his butt? A BOX?! couldn't you like find a carrot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davey-havok/guys-it-s-like-a-little-black-box-like-this-wait-you-stuck-a-box-up/) [Davey Havok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davey-havok/) ## More by Colson Whitehead > [I'd never been much of an athlete, due to a physical condition I'd had since birth (unathleticism). Perhaps if there were a sport centered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-d-never-been-much-of-an-athlete-due-to-a-physical-condition-i-d-had/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-want-to-keep-growing-as-a-writer-i-find-myself-doing-unexpected/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“Every Tuesday, James Fulton (and later, Orville Lever) stood in the downstairs drawing room and lectured on the intricacies of his science. 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Cora”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/the-great-war-had-always-been-between-the-white-and-the-black-it/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“The worst sort of scoundrels took up the chase. Drunkards, incorrigibles, poor whites who didn’t even own shoes delighted in this opportunity to scourge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/the-worst-sort-of-scoundrels-took-up-the-chase-drunkards/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you. You can’t rush inspiration. … Once your subject finds you, it’s like falling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/don-t-go-searching-for-a-subject-let-your-subject-find-you-you-can-t/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“its terms? Homer watched her as she dressed, like a valet who had waited on her since the cradle. “I’m caught,” Cora said. “You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/its-terms-homer-watched-her-as-she-dressed-like-a-valet-who-had/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/these-days-i-find-myself-wanting-to-avoid-being-pigeon-holed/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/part-of-any-book-is-establishing-the-rules-at-the-end-of-the-world-my/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [There's always an attack on the sophomore novel from some quarters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/there-s-always-an-attack-on-the-sophomore-novel-from-some-quarters/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“All he felt now was envy. These people had expectations. Of the world, of the future, it didn't matter--expectation was such an innovative concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/all-he-felt-now-was-envy-these-people-had-expectations-of-the-world/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/growing-up-as-a-product-of-the-black-civil-rights-movement-i-had-a/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/schools-don-t-teach-american-history-that-well-especially-a-lot-of/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) [Explore all 302 Colson Whitehead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) ## More Angel quotes > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [If I wer an angel,i would make all your wishes come true..but I'm only a girl a girl who loves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nix/if-i-wer-an-angel-i-would-make-all-your-wishes-come-true-but-i-m-only/) [Nix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nix/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Behind my eyelids, I saw him dancing in spirals of coloured light, emerald, blue, and brilliant purple, enfolding him like the wings of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-hall/behind-my-eyelids-i-saw-him-dancing-in-spirals-of-coloured-light/) [Alexis Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-hall/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I don't think people will ever forget I was an 'Angel,' anymore than they'll forget Sally Field was 'The Flying Nun.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-ladd/i-don-t-think-people-will-ever-forget-i-was-an-angel-anymore-than/) [Cheryl Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-ladd/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [I believe in UFOs, I believe in extraterrestrials, and I believe in angels. And maybe they'll protect all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-believe-in-ufos-i-believe-in-extraterrestrials-and-i-believe-in/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [You should never feel lonely, neglected, fearful, or defeated when you remember that there are the shining ones. 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"this is it", he said, standing by a small khaki-colored jeep."this car…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/mooner-was-walking-around-laying-his-hands-on-the-cars-divining-karma/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) [Browse all 4,625 Angel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angel/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What does the perfect elevator look like, the one that will deliver us from the cities we suffer now, these stunted shacks? We don't know because we can't see inside it, it's something we cannot imagine, like the shape of angels' teeth. 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