--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It so happens that the work which is…" description: "\"It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg" --- # It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most… ![“It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.” quote by Montgomery Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg) > “It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.” [Montgomery Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-schuyler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A functional structure like a bridge can outlast ornamental monuments and convey humanity’s legacy to future generations. **In simple terms:** Useful works endure longer than decorative ones. Key Takeaway Build for utility, not just vanity. Themes legacy utility engineering monument posterity Mood reflective inspirational Type Bridges:1 Engineering:1 Fortresses:0 Happens:0 Monument:1 Palaces:0 Posterity:1 Shrines:0 Utility:1 Work Likely:0 Durable Monument:0 Posterity Work:0 Likely Durable:0 When to use this quote - urban planning - historical preservation Key Concepts infrastructure lasting impact civil engineering Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance beauty and utility? - What lasting impact do we want to leave? A Different Perspective Utility may prioritize function over aesthetic value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Durable Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/durable-monument-3571812/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Fortresses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortresses/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Likely Durable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/likely-durable-4776834/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [Palaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palaces/) [Posterity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posterity/) [Posterity Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posterity-work-4190815/) [Shrines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrines/) [Utility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utility/) [Work Likely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-likely-2817498/) ## Related quotes > [What artists call posterity is the posterity of the work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/what-artists-call-posterity-is-the-posterity-of-the-work-of-art/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [When artists find other artists that they love to work with, they more than likely will continue to work with them throughout their career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/when-artists-find-other-artists-that-they-love-to-work-with-they-more/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) > [The Crusades - the most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-crusades-the-most-signal-and-most-durable-monument-of-human-folly/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Sometimes the harder you work, the more likely you are to maybe break a rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelvin-sampson/sometimes-the-harder-you-work-the-more-likely-you-are-to-maybe-break/) [Kelvin Sampson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelvin-sampson/) > [I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don't think about my work in those terms. It is just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/i-do-not-suppose-i-shall-be-remembered-for-anything-but-i-don-t-think/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [The most durable monument of human labor is that which recalls the wretchedness and nothingness of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-most-durable-monument-of-human-labor-is-that-which-recalls-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Death sanctifies. It's solemn enough to make its own shrine, where it happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-armstrong/death-sanctifies-it-s-solemn-enough-to-make-its-own-shrine-where-it/) [Charlotte Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-armstrong/) > [The mother must set the example in holding out the shrine as the heart of the house hold! She must enforce discipline over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/the-mother-must-set-the-example-in-holding-out-the-shrine-as-the/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [ If I do manage to come up with a scheme \[to naming\], however, I stick to it, which is why my cats are named… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-vernon/if-i-do-manage-to-come-up-with-a-scheme-to-naming-however-i-stick-to/) [Ursula Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-vernon/) > [Had it not been for the race problem early thrust upon me and enveloping me, I should have probably been an unquestioning worshipper at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/had-it-not-been-for-the-race-problem-early-thrust-upon-me-and/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Be kind to all beings, this is more meritorious than bathing at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage and donating money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/be-kind-to-all-beings-this-is-more-meritorious-than-bathing-at-the/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. What with incense, pictures, statues, altars, shrines, relics, and the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/it-is-by-far-the-most-elegant-worship-hardly-excepting-the-greek/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [I fear the vermin that shall undermineSenate and citadel and school and shrine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-markham/i-fear-the-vermin-that-shall-underminesenate-and-citadel-and-school/) [Edwin Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-markham/) > [It is a good practice to write at least on page of mantra daily. Many people get better concentration by writing than by chanting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/it-is-a-good-practice-to-write-at-least-on-page-of-mantra-daily-many/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) ## More by Montgomery Schuyler > [Washington, one feels in Washington, is the spoiled child of the republic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-schuyler/washington-one-feels-in-washington-is-the-spoiled-child-of-the/) [Montgomery Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-schuyler/) [Explore all 2 Montgomery Schuyler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-schuyler/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Montgomery Schuyler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-schuyler/it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-likely-to-be-our-most-durable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bridges" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-schuyler/it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-likely-to-be-our-most-durable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/724/montgomery-schuyler-102914_bridges_it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-lik_581142.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of…” — Montgomery Schuyler", "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": "Montgomery Schuyler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-schuyler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It so happens that the work...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-schuyler/it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-likely-to-be-our-most-durable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-schuyler/it-so-happens-that-the-work-which-is-likely-to-be-our-most-durable/#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 } } ] } ```