--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's the city's crush and heave that move…" description: "\"It's the city's crush and heave that move you; its intricacy; its endless life. You know the story about Manhattan as a wilderness purchased for string..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e4/michael-cunningham-1120_beads_it-s-the-city-s-crush-and-heave-that-mov_857746.png" --- # It's the city's crush and heave that move you; its… ![“It's the city's crush and heave that move you; its intricacy; its endless life. You know the story about Manhattan as a wilderness purchased for strings of beads, but you find it impossible not to believe that it has always been a city; that if you dug beneath it you would find the ruins of…” quote by Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e4/michael-cunningham-1120_beads_it-s-the-city-s-crush-and-heave-that-mov_857746.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e4/michael-cunningham-1120_beads_it-s-the-city-s-crush-and-heave-that-mov_857746.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e4/michael-cunningham-1120_beads_it-s-the-city-s-crush-and-heave-that-mov_857746.png) > “It's the city's crush and heave that move you; its intricacy; its endless life. You know the story about Manhattan as a wilderness purchased for strings of beads, but you find it impossible not to believe that it has always been a city; that if you dug beneath it you would find the ruins of another, older city, and then another and another.” [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city is a layered, ever‑changing organism, built upon countless past civilizations, each hidden beneath the surface. **In simple terms:** Cities are built on layers of older cities. Key Takeaway Recognize the deep history beneath modern life. Themes history urbanism continuity Mood reflective curious Type observational literary When to use this quote - tourism - city planning - heritage preservation - education - creative writing Key Concepts archaeology urban development memory Questions to Reflect On - What hidden histories shape your city? - How does this perspective affect urban development? A Different Perspective Layers may be romanticized, overlooking present challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Crush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crush/) [Endless life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Manhattan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manhattan/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) ## Related quotes > [Barcelona is a very old city in which you can feel the weight of history; it is haunted by history. You cannot walk around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/barcelona-is-a-very-old-city-in-which-you-can-feel-the-weight-of-2/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“The lights of Knoxville quaked in a faint penumbra to the west as must the ruins of many an older city seen by herders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-lights-of-knoxville-quaked-in-a-faint-penumbra-to-the-west-as/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ego is considered one’s own wealth. Profit or loss of endless lifetimes comes into ego. Whatever is one’s ego, that is how his medium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/ego-is-considered-one-s-own-wealth-profit-or-loss-of-endless/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [He promoted the education of the parish clergy and wrote: He seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/he-promoted-the-education-of-the-parish-clergy-and-wrote-he-seems-to/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [If the way of heaven be narrow, it is not long; and if the gate be straight, it opens into endless life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-beveridge/if-the-way-of-heaven-be-narrow-it-is-not-long-and-if-the-gate-be/) [William Beveridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-beveridge/) > [Death, that final evil, is one of the paths to eternity. Endless life in the conditions of our existence would be a nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/death-that-final-evil-is-one-of-the-paths-to-eternity-endless-life-in/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [“Do you believe yourself in love with Deveaux?” He snarled the words. Between gritted teeth, he said, “It’s emblazoned on your pretty face. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/do-you-believe-yourself-in-love-with-deveaux-he-snarled-the-words/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [“If there was a hell beyond what he knew, he would welcome it. He had no reason not to. After all, a life without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ais/if-there-was-a-hell-beyond-what-he-knew-he-would-welcome-it-he-had-no/) [Ais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ais/) > [Not all the winds, and storms, and earthquakes, and seas, and seasons of the world, have done so much to revolutionize the earth as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-bushnell/not-all-the-winds-and-storms-and-earthquakes-and-seas-and-seasons-of/) [Horace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-bushnell/) > [“The formerly absolute distinction between time and eternity in Christian thought--between nunc movens with its beginning and end, and nunc stans, the perfect possession…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-formerly-absolute-distinction-between-time-and-eternity-in/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [I think that music has an endless life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-dudley/i-think-that-music-has-an-endless-life/) [Anne Dudley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-dudley/) > [Awake, my soul, and with the sun thy daily course of duty run. Cast off dull sloth, and joyful rise to pay thy morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ken/awake-my-soul-and-with-the-sun-thy-daily-course-of-duty-run-cast-off/) [Thomas Ken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ken/) > [Seek for the endless life in the world, because with death, there remains neither the seeker nor the sought! The other world is altogether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/seek-for-the-endless-life-in-the-world-because-with-death-there/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Loveless life is like a fruitless tree But friendless life is like a rootless tree Tree can live without fruit but not without roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/loveless-life-is-like-a-fruitless-tree-but-friendless-life-is-like-a/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“After all, a life without living was simply a death without dying. What more was there to fear or hate but life, endless life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ais/after-all-a-life-without-living-was-simply-a-death-without-dying-what/) [Ais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ais/) ## More by Michael Cunningham > [“Mizzy has wandered into the garden. Carole looks contemplatively at him, says, "Lovely boy." "My wife's insanely younger brother. He's one of those kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/mizzy-has-wandered-into-the-garden-carole-looks-contemplatively-at/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“Zoe loved Trancas's mother. She respected her exhausted and ironic hope for rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/zoe-loved-trancas-s-mother-she-respected-her-exhausted-and-ironic/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The lives great artists live and the books they write are two very different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-lives-great-artists-live-and-the-books-they-write-are-two-very/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“...a full week of their mother's quiet fury over the fun they don't seem to be having and their father's dogged attempts to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/a-full-week-of-their-mother-s-quiet-fury-over-the-fun-they-don-t-seem/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/oh-all-you-immigrants-and-visionaries-what-do-you-hope-to-find-here/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She wants to have baked a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-wants-to-have-baked-a-cake-that-banishes-sorrow-even-if-only-for/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And yet, it gives Peter nothing. Not now. Not today. Not when he needs... more. More than this well-executed idea. More than the shark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-yet-it-gives-peter-nothing-not-now-not-today-not-when-he-needs/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [He insists on a version of you that is funnier, stranger, more eccentric and prfound thatn you suspect yourself to be--capable of doing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/he-insists-on-a-version-of-you-that-is-funnier-stranger-more/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The worst are full of passionate intensity while the best lack all conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-worst-are-full-of-passionate-intensity-while-the-best-lack-all/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And here he is, letting the massive steel street door click shut behind him, standing at the top of the three iron steps that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-here-he-is-letting-the-massive-steel-street-door-click-shut/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [It's the world, you live in it, even if some boy has made a fool of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-s-the-world-you-live-in-it-even-if-some-boy-has-made-a-fool-of-you/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She's had a long life. Now she's going to the Lord." "Frankly it creeps me out a little when you say things like that,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-s-had-a-long-life-now-she-s-going-to-the-lord-frankly-it-creeps/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Any other vexations to report?" he asks. "I love the word 'vexations.'" "It's the 'x.' Nice to jump off a 'v' and bite into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/any-other-vexations-to-report-he-asks-i-love-the-word-vexations-it-s/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/dead-we-are-revealed-in-our-true-dimensions-and-they-are-surprisingly/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) [Explore all 277 Michael Cunningham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ## More Beads quotes > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [slowly the pale dew-beads of light lapped up from flowers can thicken, darken to gold: honey of the human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/slowly-the-pale-dew-beads-of-light-lapped-up-from-flowers-can-thicken/) [Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/) > [You think you know yourself, the world. You believe you've got a bead on everybody else's bullshit, but what about your own?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lipsyte/you-think-you-know-yourself-the-world-you-believe-you-ve-got-a-bead/) [Sam Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lipsyte/) > [I think all writers are always collecting characters as we go along. Not just characters of course, we're collecting EVERYTHING. Bits and pieces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-sokoloff/i-think-all-writers-are-always-collecting-characters-as-we-go-along/) Alexandra Sokoloff > [Deciding to chant the mantra a certain number of times daily will help foster the japa habit. We should always keep a rosary with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/deciding-to-chant-the-mantra-a-certain-number-of-times-daily-will/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [Then, when people saw you strolling around at high noon holding your rosary beads, they’d think, ‘Well, that can’t be a vampire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/then-when-people-saw-you-strolling-around-at-high-noon-holding-your/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [We must always remember that God is Love. "A fool indeed is he who, living on the banks of the Ganga, seeks to dig…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-always-remember-that-god-is-love-a-fool-indeed-is-he-who/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Every time some new huckster of angst-ridden metaphor is appointed by Art Forum, the congregation genuflects, stroking the catalog like a handful of Rosary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abe-ajay/every-time-some-new-huckster-of-angst-ridden-metaphor-is-appointed-by/) [Abe Ajay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abe-ajay/) > [You know, if I cleaned out my backpack, which I don't really use anymore, I'd find a bunch of beads. I have a bunch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-connaughton/you-know-if-i-cleaned-out-my-backpack-which-i-don-t-really-use/) [Pat Connaughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-connaughton/) > [SHE is neither pink nor pale, And she never will be all mine; She learned her hands in a fairy-tale, And her mouth on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/she-is-neither-pink-nor-pale-and-she-never-will-be-all-mine-she/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Reading a text is more like tracing this process of constant flickering than it is like counting the beads on a necklace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-a-text-is-more-like-tracing-this-process-of-constant/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Loyalty to God is alone fundamental. Feelings, words, deeds, must be beads strung on the string of duty. Let the world tell you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maltbie-davenport-babcock/loyalty-to-god-is-alone-fundamental-feelings-words-deeds-must-be/) [Maltbie Davenport Babcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maltbie-davenport-babcock/) > [closed my eyes and listened. It was like music I'd heard all my life, even more than "This Lullaby." All those keystrokes, all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/closed-my-eyes-and-listened-it-was-like-music-i-d-heard-all-my-life/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [A very special case. A few years more, and that pretty creature who you love too much, I think, will, without ever loving them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/a-very-special-case-a-few-years-more-and-that-pretty-creature-who-you/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [Friendship, awareness, happiness, all of the arts of the good life, are brilliant beads strung on the golden cord of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friendship-awareness-happiness-all-of-the-arts-of-the-good-life-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 169 Beads quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's the city's crush and heave that move you; its intricacy; its endless life. 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