--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck…" description: "\"“On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness of the streetlamps running across like a formation of stars. They shone white against the b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg" --- # On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness… ![“On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness of the streetlamps running across like a formation of stars. They shone white against the black coats of the marching gentlefold and fuller than the moon against the fractal spires of Westminster. They were, Arthur quickly realized, the…” quote by Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg) > ““On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness of the streetlamps running across like a formation of stars. They shone white against the black coats of the marching gentlefold and fuller than the moon against the fractal spires of Westminster. They were, Arthur quickly realized, the new electric lights, which the city government was installing, avenue by avenue, square by square, in place of the dirty gas lamps that had lit London's public spaces for a century. These new electric ones were brighter. They were cheaper. They required less maintenance. And they shone farther into the dime evening, exposing every crack in the pavement, every plump turtle sheel of stone underfoot. So long to the faint chiaroscuro of London, to the ladies and gentlemen in black-on-black relief. So long to the era of mist and carbonized Newcastle coal, to the stench of the Blackfriars foundry. Welcome to the cleasing glare of the twentieth century.”” [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes the transition from dim gas lighting to bright electric illumination, symbolizing modernity’s clarity and loss of mystery. **In simple terms:** Electric light replaces gas lamps. Key Takeaway Embrace progress while honoring history. Themes technology urban change modernity nostalgia Mood reflective nostalgic Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - city planning - historical preservation - technology adoption - cultural analysis Key Concepts Industrial revolution urban planning visual culture Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of past urban life should be preserved? - How does modern lighting affect human perception? A Different Perspective Progress can erase cultural ambiance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Electric light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electric-light/) [Ladies and gentlemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ladies-and-gentlemen/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lights/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Sherlock holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sherlock-holmes/) ## Related quotes > [“In the darkest corner of a darkened room, all Sherlock Homes stories begin. In the pregnant dim of gaslight and smoke, Holmes would sit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/in-the-darkest-corner-of-a-darkened-room-all-sherlock-homes-stories/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Gray fall light came through the nine square glass panes. On days like this, the strips of white wood that separated the glass seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/gray-fall-light-came-through-the-nine-square-glass-panes-on-days-like/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Murder was so trivial in the stories Harold loved. Dead bodies were plot points, puzzles to be reasoned out. They weren't brothers. Plot points…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/murder-was-so-trivial-in-the-stories-harold-loved-dead-bodies-were/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [Amazing, really, to think of what a man could achieve with the simple ability to put pen to paper and spin a decent yarn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/amazing-really-to-think-of-what-a-man-could-achieve-with-the-simple/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“A mystifying sensation of loneliness shook him. Arthur had been alone before, to be sure, but to be alone while surrounded by people, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/a-mystifying-sensation-of-loneliness-shook-him-arthur-had-been-alone/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [There is an undeniable exhilaration in moment of even the smallest discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/there-is-an-undeniable-exhilaration-in-moment-of-even-the-smallest/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“The night before I left home, there was the wake in our kitchen as was the custom for anyone going so far away. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/the-night-before-i-left-home-there-was-the-wake-in-our-kitchen-as-was/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [Children are not vessels to be filled but lamps to be lit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinmayananda-saraswati/children-are-not-vessels-to-be-filled-but-lamps-to-be-lit/) [Chinmayananda Saraswati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinmayananda-saraswati/) > [The lamps are lit, the fires burn bright. The house is full of life and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-lamps-are-lit-the-fires-burn-bright-the-house-is-full-of-life-and/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [But at night, when the library lamps are lit, the outside world disappears and nothing but the space of books remains in existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/but-at-night-when-the-library-lamps-are-lit-the-outside-world/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“The lamps were lit, and a good fire crackled in the great stone fireplace. There was a discreet chink of china, the brightness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/the-lamps-were-lit-and-a-good-fire-crackled-in-the-great-stone/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“Había nacido para ser grande, porque era capaz de proyectar lo que otros hombres no se atrevían a llevar a cabo, y de llevar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/hab-a-nacido-para-ser-grande-porque-era-capaz-de-proyectar-lo-que/) [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Richard put away the Narnia books, convinced, sadly, that they were an allegory; that an author (whom he had trusted) had been attempting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-put-away-the-narnia-books-convinced-sadly-that-they-were-an/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“One likes to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/one-likes-to-think-that-there-is-some-fantastic-limbo-for-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have during the last eight years studied the methods of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/on-glancing-over-my-notes-of-the-seventy-odd-cases-in-which-i-have/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## More by Graham Moore > [“Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood: There will always be some who misunderstand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/always-remember-that-it-is-impossible-to-speak-in-such-a-way-that-you/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [ “\[On writing more Sherlock Holmes stories.\] ‘I don’t care whether you do or not,’ said Bram. ‘But you will, eventually. He’s yours, till death… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/on-writing-more-sherlock-holmes-stories-i-don-t-care-whether-you-do/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [There is an undeniable exhilaration in moment of even the smallest discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/there-is-an-undeniable-exhilaration-in-moment-of-even-the-smallest/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Paul was an attorney. And this was what his as yet brief career in the law had done to his brain. He was comforted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/paul-was-an-attorney-and-this-was-what-his-as-yet-brief-career-in-the/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World, by Jill Jonnes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/empires-of-light-edison-tesla-westinghouse-and-the-race-to-electrify/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“A vice is a thing which may be applauded in moderation but becomes horrific in overuse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/a-vice-is-a-thing-which-may-be-applauded-in-moderation-but-becomes/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Arthur looked deeply into the boy’s clear blue eyes and scanned the contours of his handsome face. Arthur could hear something, faintly, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/arthur-looked-deeply-into-the-boy-s-clear-blue-eyes-and-scanned-the/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Art is a social object, books and films and records and television shows, they’re social objects that bring people together in conversation. I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/art-is-a-social-object-books-and-films-and-records-and-television/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [When I was 16 years old I tried to kill myself because I felt different and that I didn't belong. Now I'm here, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/when-i-was-16-years-old-i-tried-to-kill-myself-because-i-felt/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Love grew docile with age, like a faithful hound. It became precious and prized, locked away from the world like a jewelry box. Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/love-grew-docile-with-age-like-a-faithful-hound-it-became-precious/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Arthur had never challenged a man to a duel, but in this moment he understood the magnificent reasonableness of the tradition. It was either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/arthur-had-never-challenged-a-man-to-a-duel-but-in-this-moment-he/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“And yet as pristine as she appeared, her demeanor was not delicate. She was no porcelain doll. She was a distant glacier. Remote, quiet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/and-yet-as-pristine-as-she-appeared-her-demeanor-was-not-delicate-she/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [Stay Weird, Stay Different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/stay-weird-stay-different/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. —THOMAS EDISON”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/everything-comes-to-him-who-hustles-while-he-waits-thomas-edison/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“A mystifying sensation of loneliness shook him. Arthur had been alone before, to be sure, but to be alone while surrounded by people, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/a-mystifying-sensation-of-loneliness-shook-him-arthur-had-been-alone/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) [Explore all 33 Graham Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) ## More Arthur-conan-doyle quotes > [“On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have during the last eight years studied the methods of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/on-glancing-over-my-notes-of-the-seventy-odd-cases-in-which-i-have/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“One likes to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/one-likes-to-think-that-there-is-some-fantastic-limbo-for-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Richard put away the Narnia books, convinced, sadly, that they were an allegory; that an author (whom he had trusted) had been attempting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-put-away-the-narnia-books-convinced-sadly-that-they-were-an/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Había nacido para ser grande, porque era capaz de proyectar lo que otros hombres no se atrevían a llevar a cabo, y de llevar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/hab-a-nacido-para-ser-grande-porque-era-capaz-de-proyectar-lo-que/) [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“In the darkest corner of a darkened room, all Sherlock Homes stories begin. In the pregnant dim of gaslight and smoke, Holmes would sit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/in-the-darkest-corner-of-a-darkened-room-all-sherlock-homes-stories/) [Graham Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/) > [“I might not have gone but for you, and so have missed the finest study I have ever come across: a study in scarlet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/i-might-not-have-gone-but-for-you-and-so-have-missed-the-finest-study/) [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-arthur-conan-doyle/) Browse all 7 Arthur-conan-doyle quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness of the streetlamps running across like a formation of stars. They shone white against the black coats of the marching gentlefold and fuller than the moon against the fractal spires of Westminster. They were, Arthur quickly realized, the new electric lights, which the city government was installing, avenue by avenue, square by square, in place of the dirty gas lamps that had lit London's public spaces for a century. These new electric ones were brighter. They were cheaper. They required less maintenance. And they shone farther into the dime evening, exposing every crack in the pavement, every plump turtle sheel of stone underfoot. So long to the faint chiaroscuro of London, to the ladies and gentlemen in black-on-black relief. So long to the era of mist and carbonized Newcastle coal, to the stench of the Blackfriars foundry. Welcome to the cleasing glare of the twentieth century.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Moore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck-by-the-brightness-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arthur-conan-doyle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck-by-the-brightness-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/graham-moore-18909_arthur-conan-doyle_on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck_2754606.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck by the brightness of the streetlamps running across like a…” — Graham Moore", "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": "Graham Moore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-moore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“On Westminster Bridge, Arthur was struck...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck-by-the-brightness-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-moore/on-westminster-bridge-arthur-was-struck-by-the-brightness-of-the/#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 } } ] } ```