--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The skyscrapers began to rise again…" description: "\"The skyscrapers began to rise again, frailly massive, elegantly utilitarian, images in their grace, audacity and inconclusiveness, of the whole charact..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_audacity_the-skyscrapers-began-to-rise-again-frai_2231416.png" --- # The skyscrapers began to rise again, frailly massive… ![“The skyscrapers began to rise again, frailly massive, elegantly utilitarian, images in their grace, audacity and inconclusiveness, of the whole character of the people who produces them.” quote by Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_audacity_the-skyscrapers-began-to-rise-again-frai_2231416.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_audacity_the-skyscrapers-began-to-rise-again-frai_2231416.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85c/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_audacity_the-skyscrapers-began-to-rise-again-frai_2231416.png) > “The skyscrapers began to rise again, frailly massive, elegantly utilitarian, images in their grace, audacity and inconclusiveness, of the whole character of the people who produces them.” [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skyscrapers symbolize both the ambition and the fragile, unfinished nature of the societies that build them. **In simple terms:** Buildings show human ambition and its unfinished, fragile side. Key Takeaway Recognize the duality of progress—beauty and imperfection. Themes architecture society ambition fragility Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - city planning - architectural criticism - cultural analysis - urban development Key Concepts urbanism aesthetic philosophy human endeavor Questions to Reflect On - What does the architecture reveal about societal values? - How can we design buildings that reflect both ambition and social responsibility? A Different Perspective May romanticize structures without addressing social inequities they embody. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audacity/) [Began Rise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/began-rise-3242344/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Frailly Massive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frailly-massive-5021183/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Massive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/massive/) [Nature of Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-beauty/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Produce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/produce/) [Skyscraper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skyscraper/) [Skyscrapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skyscrapers/) [Skyscrapers Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skyscrapers-began-5021182/) [Utilitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilitarian/) [Utilitarian Images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilitarian-images-5021184/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [ “From the ashes of the Triangle Company fire began to rise one of the most dramatic and far-reaching \[changes\] in American history-one that would...eventually… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/1999-ric-burns-and-james-sanders-new-york/from-the-ashes-of-the-triangle-company-fire-began-to-rise-one-of-the/) [1999 Ric Burns and James Sanders New York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/1999-ric-burns-and-james-sanders-new-york/) > [At first, Amitabh's films didn't do too well. 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It's also,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-foster/manhattan-one-of-the-most-moneyed-spots-on-the-planet-also-has-one-of/) [Norman Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-foster/) > [I remember perfectly my first trip to New York, when I was on the bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan, when I saw the skyscrapers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-della-valle/i-remember-perfectly-my-first-trip-to-new-york-when-i-was-on-the/) [Diego Della Valle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-della-valle/) > [ \[New York\] is a city largely based on great skyscrapers, and they will always be the essence of New York. That won't change, just… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/new-york-is-a-city-largely-based-on-great-skyscrapers-and-they-will/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [I love the sea, but I avoid any sort of seaside resort that has skyscrapers or seaside entertainments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-blake/i-love-the-sea-but-i-avoid-any-sort-of-seaside-resort-that-has/) [Quentin Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-blake/) ## More by Malcolm Muggeridge > [It is only possible to succeed at second-rate pursuitslikebecoming a millionaire or a prime minister, winning a war, seducing beautiful women, flying thought the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/it-is-only-possible-to-succeed-at-second-rate-pursuitslikebecoming-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [He was not only a bore; he bored for England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/he-was-not-only-a-bore-he-bored-for-england/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Posterity will surely be amazed, and I hope vastly amused, that such slipshod and unconvincing theorizing should have so easily captivated twentieth-century minds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/posterity-will-surely-be-amazed-and-i-hope-vastly-amused-that-such/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [In politics, as in womanizing, failure is decisive. It sheds its retrospective gloom on earlier endeavor which at the time seemed full of promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/in-politics-as-in-womanizing-failure-is-decisive-it-sheds-its/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Marx and Freud are the two great destroyers of Christian civilization, the first replacing the gospel of love by the gospel of hate, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/marx-and-freud-are-the-two-great-destroyers-of-christian-civilization/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [I wouldn't have said that Anthony Eden was equipped by nature to deal with the situation in the world today. I would have said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-wouldn-t-have-said-that-anthony-eden-was-equipped-by-nature-to-deal/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [God, stay with me, let no word cross my lips that is not your word, no thoughts enter my mind that are not your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/god-stay-with-me-let-no-word-cross-my-lips-that-is-not-your-word-no/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The monarchical institution in England is immensely valuable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-monarchical-institution-in-england-is-immensely-valuable/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Education, the great mumbo jumbo and fraud of the age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/education-the-great-mumbo-jumbo-and-fraud-of-the-age/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [This life in us; however low it flickers or fiercely burns, is still a divine flame which no man dare presume to put out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/this-life-in-us-however-low-it-flickers-or-fiercely-burns-is-still-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [As Man alone, Jesus could not have saved us; As God alone, He would not; Made flesh, He could and did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/as-man-alone-jesus-could-not-have-saved-us-as-god-alone-he-would-not/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [ I think it \[presidency of Dwight Eisenhower\] came too late and I think that he is not on the wavelength of this dreadful time… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-think-it-presidency-of-dwight-eisenhower-came-too-late-and-i-think/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Future historians will surely see us as having created in the media a Frankenstein monster whom no one knows how to control ordirect, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/future-historians-will-surely-see-us-as-having-created-in-the-media-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [ I think that President \[Dwight\] Eisenhower was... did the most marvelous job in the war, not really a military job: a public relations job,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-think-that-president-dwight-eisenhower-was-did-the-most-marvelous/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) [Explore all 168 Malcolm Muggeridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) ## More Audacity quotes > [All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/all-too-often-it-is-audacity-and-not-talent-that-moves-an-artist-to/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [“Between an Error and a Lie, there are Worlds – an Error is an unintended Mistake, a Lie is an intentional Audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/between-an-error-and-a-lie-there-are-worlds-an-error-is-an-unintended/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/few-men-realize-that-their-life-the-very-essence-of-their-character/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [To reinvent your own country you need a great audacity of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-rgen-moltmann/to-reinvent-your-own-country-you-need-a-great-audacity-of-hope/) [Jürgen Moltmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-rgen-moltmann/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. 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Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/anything-can-happen-anything-or-nothing-who-can-say-the-world/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [“How can you have memories if you don't have the audacity to create them?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-wunder/how-can-you-have-memories-if-you-don-t-have-the-audacity-to-create/) [Wendy Wunder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-wunder/) > [“The audacity of my sagacity is instrumentality to my successity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/the-audacity-of-my-sagacity-is-instrumentality-to-my-successity/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [“I had artistic classical training, and when you learn the classics for so many years, you might gain audacity, power and confidence to subvert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuno-roque/i-had-artistic-classical-training-and-when-you-learn-the-classics-for/) [Nuno Roque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuno-roque/) > [God beckons storm clouds and they come. 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