--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn…" description: "\"Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher; but it is the tenth man, who drops in the keystone, who hears our huzzas.\" — George Iles" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg" --- # Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher… ![“Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher; but it is the tenth man, who drops in the keystone, who hears our huzzas.” quote by George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg) > “Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher; but it is the tenth man, who drops in the keystone, who hears our huzzas.” [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective effort builds structures, but a single crucial piece can cause collapse. **In simple terms:** One key part can ruin the whole. Key Takeaway Protect the keystone. Themes teamwork structure fragility Mood analytical pragmatic Type strategic warning When to use this quote - construction projects - software development - group decisions Key Concepts interdependence critical failure Questions to Reflect On - Who is the keystone in your team? - How do you mitigate single‑point failures? A Different Perspective Overreliance on a single point can be risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Lifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifting/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [What I've started to realize is that social media is not just technology - it's become its own entity, full of energy waves. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-somerhalder/what-i-ve-started-to-realize-is-that-social-media-is-not-just/) [Ian Somerhalder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-somerhalder/) > [Our Keystone legislation received strong bipartisan support in the Senate. Although it didn't receive the 60 votes necessary for passage, 56 senators - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hoeven/our-keystone-legislation-received-strong-bipartisan-support-in-the/) [John Hoeven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hoeven/) > [Winning control of the Senate would allow Republicans to pass a whole range of measures now being held up by Reid, often at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/winning-control-of-the-senate-would-allow-republicans-to-pass-a-whole/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/i-believe-the-alphabet-is-no-longer-considered-an-essential-piece-of/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [I believe, along with Pope Francis and almost all scientists, that climate change is threatening this planet in horrendous ways, and that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-believe-along-with-pope-francis-and-almost-all-scientists-that/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The cell, this elementary keystone of living nature, is far from being a peculiar chemical giant molecule or even a living protein and as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-hertwig/the-cell-this-elementary-keystone-of-living-nature-is-far-from-being/) Oscar Hertwig > [Churchill decides from very early on that he will create a political position that is somehow above left and right, embodying the best points…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/churchill-decides-from-very-early-on-that-he-will-create-a-political/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [We certainly ... hope that the Congress will act in an appropriate fashion and not waste its time with ineffectual, sham legislation on Keystone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-carney/we-certainly-hope-that-the-congress-will-act-in-an-appropriate/) [Jay Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-carney/) > [I heard Joby Talbot's Hovercraft piece for orchestra and felt its immediate physical impact - visceral, unsettling, hungry and direct. These short five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-mcgregor/i-heard-joby-talbot-s-hovercraft-piece-for-orchestra-and-felt-its/) [Wayne McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-mcgregor/) > [Owning a home is a keystone of wealth - both financial affluence and emotional security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/owning-a-home-is-a-keystone-of-wealth-both-financial-affluence-and/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/medicine-is-the-keystone-of-the-arch-of-socialism/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think a lot of the reason people are attracted to the Keystone pipeline is because at least we're doing something. There's a fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/i-think-a-lot-of-the-reason-people-are-attracted-to-the-keystone/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Many of the medicines we use today, to fight everything from AIDS to cancer, originate as a toxin in an amphibian skin. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-corwin/many-of-the-medicines-we-use-today-to-fight-everything-from-aids-to/) [Jeff Corwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-corwin/) > [I am passionate about making sure that we collectively and proactively preserve all of the world's most iconic coastal and oceanic wild places -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-dedina/i-am-passionate-about-making-sure-that-we-collectively-and/) Serge Dedina > [Work is the keystone of a perfect life. Work and trust in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/work-is-the-keystone-of-a-perfect-life-work-and-trust-in-god/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## More by George Iles > [Nothing cools so fast as undue enthusiasm. Water that has boiled freezes sooner than any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/nothing-cools-so-fast-as-undue-enthusiasm-water-that-has-boiled/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Discovery begins by finding the discoverer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/discovery-begins-by-finding-the-discoverer/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [They will listen with both ears to what is said by the men just a step or two ahead of them, who stand nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/they-will-listen-with-both-ears-to-what-is-said-by-the-men-just-a/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Is any knowledge worthless? Try to think of an example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/is-any-knowledge-worthless-try-to-think-of-an-example/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [We despair of changing the habits of men, still we would alter institutions, the habits of millions of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/we-despair-of-changing-the-habits-of-men-still-we-would-alter/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Evolution pays and that is why there is evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/evolution-pays-and-that-is-why-there-is-evolution/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [A calculating engine is one of the most intricate forms of mechanism, a telegraph key one of the simplest. But compare their value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/a-calculating-engine-is-one-of-the-most-intricate-forms-of-mechanism/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/hope-is-faith-holding-out-its-hand-in-the-dark/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [When we try to imagine a chaos we fail. ... In its very fiber the mind is an order and refuses to build a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/when-we-try-to-imagine-a-chaos-we-fail-in-its-very-fiber-the-mind-is/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Ignorance may find a truth on its doorstep that erudition vainly seeks in the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/ignorance-may-find-a-truth-on-its-doorstep-that-erudition-vainly/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [No gun is perfectly true. So the marksman, that he may hit the bull's-eye, points elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/no-gun-is-perfectly-true-so-the-marksman-that-he-may-hit-the-bull-s/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Degree is much: the whole Atlantic might be lukewarm and never boil us a potato.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/degree-is-much-the-whole-atlantic-might-be-lukewarm-and-never-boil-us/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Error held as truth has much the effect of truth. In politics and religion this fact upsets many confident predictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/error-held-as-truth-has-much-the-effect-of-truth-in-politics-and/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Nature is full of by-ends. A moth feeds on a petal, in a moment the pollen caught on its breast will be wedding this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/nature-is-full-of-by-ends-a-moth-feeds-on-a-petal-in-a-moment-the/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/doubt-is-the-beginning-not-the-end-of-wisdom/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) [Explore all 29 George Iles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) ## More Arches quotes > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/an-arch-consists-of-two-weaknesses-which-leaning-one-against-the/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [If I'm ever feeling uninspired, all I have to do is go see Exodus or Arch Enemy, and think 'Oh yeah, that's what we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-king/if-i-m-ever-feeling-uninspired-all-i-have-to-do-is-go-see-exodus-or/) [Kerry King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-king/) > [The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/the-golden-arches-are-now-more-widely-recognized-than-the-christian/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) > [If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load which is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/if-architects-want-to-strengthen-a-decrepit-arch-they-increase-the/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/history-fades-into-fable-fact-becomes-clouded-with-doubt-and/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [The Golden Arches of McDonald's rise, glorious across the landscape, contempo-monolithic, simple in concept as Stonehenge if we could but see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/the-golden-arches-of-mcdonald-s-rise-glorious-across-the-landscape/) [Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/) > [Suddenly the clouds seem high above us. They’re moving over us in an arch, circling the planet. They have seen abysmal oceans and charred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/suddenly-the-clouds-seem-high-above-us-they-re-moving-over-us-in-an/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [Dianetics is a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his invention of the wheel and the arch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/dianetics-is-a-milestone-for-man-comparable-to-his-discovery-of-fire/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [The greatest sin is appearing naive or old-fashioned so that somebody can give you a sort of a very cool arch smile and devastate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-greatest-sin-is-appearing-naive-or-old-fashioned-so-that-somebody/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Medicine is the keystone of the arch of socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/medicine-is-the-keystone-of-the-arch-of-socialism/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When the peacock has presented his back, the spectator will usually begin to walk around him to get a front view; but the peacock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/when-the-peacock-has-presented-his-back-the-spectator-will-usually/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Polly Jean, I love you. I love the texture of your skin, the taste of your saliva, the softness of your ears. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/polly-jean-i-love-you-i-love-the-texture-of-your-skin-the-taste-of/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [It is frivolous to fix pedantically the date of particular inventions. They have all been invented over and over fifty times. Man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-frivolous-to-fix-pedantically-the-date-of-particular-inventions/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) Browse all 190 Arches quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher; but it is the tenth man, who drops in the keystone, who hears our huzzas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Iles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-lifting-it-higher-but-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arches" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-lifting-it-higher-but-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/786/george-iles-21168_arches_ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-l_1551670.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ten builders rear an arch, each in turn lifting it higher; but it is the tenth man, who drops in the…” — George Iles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Iles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ten builders rear an arch, each...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-lifting-it-higher-but-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/ten-builders-rear-an-arch-each-in-turn-lifting-it-higher-but-it-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```