---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All that a city will ever allow you is an…"
description: "\"All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it, an oblique, indirect sample of what it contains, or what passes through it; a point of view.\" — ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a48/peter-conrad-80315_allow_all-that-a-city-will-ever-allow-you-is-a_2558989.jpg"
---

#  All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it, an…

![“All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it, an oblique, indirect sample of what it contains, or what passes through it; a point of view.” quote by Peter Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a48/peter-conrad-80315_allow_all-that-a-city-will-ever-allow-you-is-a_2558989.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a48/peter-conrad-80315_allow_all-that-a-city-will-ever-allow-you-is-a_2558989.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a48/peter-conrad-80315_allow_all-that-a-city-will-ever-allow-you-is-a_2558989.jpg)

> “All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it, an oblique, indirect sample of what it contains, or what passes through it; a point of view.”

[Peter Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-conrad/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A city can only be understood through limited perspectives, offering fragmented glimpses rather than a complete picture.

**In simple terms:** Cities give only partial views.

Key Takeaway

Seek multiple viewpoints to grasp complexity.

Themes

perception urban life subjectivity knowledge

Mood

analytical curious

Type

critical observational

When to use this quote

- urban planning
- travel
- journalism
- academic research

Key Concepts

sociology philosophy media studies

Questions to Reflect On

- How many angles do you consider when evaluating a place?
- What biases affect your perception of cities?

A Different Perspective

Single perspectives can mislead or oversimplify reality.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

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## Related quotes

> [I think I'm on an angle. I'm on an oblique angle through all of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-i-m-on-an-angle-i-m-on-an-oblique-angle-through-all-of/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [Scott Bradfield writes weird, oblique, unsettling stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-giles/scott-bradfield-writes-weird-oblique-unsettling-stuff/)

[Jeff Giles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-giles/)

> [It was always a false assumption that white American writers cannot write novels about race unless they're approaching it from a very oblique angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-row/it-was-always-a-false-assumption-that-white-american-writers-cannot/)

[Jess Row](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-row/)

> [The only thing that makes a book YA is that it is about teenagers, and it is written in a very conventional, non-artsy, non-pretentious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/the-only-thing-that-makes-a-book-ya-is-that-it-is-about-teenagers-and/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [An oblique angle,” Jack said, and his bout of jealousy was quickly replaced with glee. “Ha! I told you I would work that in!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/an-oblique-angle-jack-said-and-his-bout-of-jealousy-was-quickly/)

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> [My best-known book remains 'Henry and Clara,' a novel about the couple who were with the Lincolns at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mallon/my-best-known-book-remains-henry-and-clara-a-novel-about-the-couple/)

[Thomas Mallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mallon/)

> [I'm fond of implied narratives, oblique angles, and leaving a little room for the viewer to finish a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carter/i-m-fond-of-implied-narratives-oblique-angles-and-leaving-a-little/)

[Keith Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carter/)

> [There's always the pressure on the director of how to transition from one scene to another, especially when it can really be oblique on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-graves/there-s-always-the-pressure-on-the-director-of-how-to-transition-from/)

[Alex Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-graves/)

> [Our relations to each other are oblique and casual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-relations-to-each-other-are-oblique-and-casual/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [“Personal life, expression, knowledge, and history advance obliquely, and not directly, toward ends or toward concepts. That which is sought too deliberately is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/personal-life-expression-knowledge-and-history-advance-obliquely-and/)

[Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/)

> [I'm an oblique guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-penn/i-m-an-oblique-guy/)

[Michael Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-penn/)

> [I'm interested is the oblique as a concept deeply connected to human lived experience, not separate from it. I was listening to an interview…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-lundy-martin/i-m-interested-is-the-oblique-as-a-concept-deeply-connected-to-human/)

[Dawn Lundy Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-lundy-martin/)

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[Alan J. Pakula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-j-pakula/)

> [“Life’s easy. It’s living it that’s difficult.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-sasso/life-s-easy-it-s-living-it-that-s-difficult/)

[Mike Sasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-sasso/)

> [Christ's fishermen should not meddle with men's law, for men' s law contains sharp stones and trees by which the net of God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wycliffe/christ-s-fishermen-should-not-meddle-with-men-s-law-for-men-s-law/)

[John Wycliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wycliffe/)

## More by Peter Conrad

> [Losing faith in your own singularity is the start of wisdom, I suppose; also the first announcement of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-conrad/losing-faith-in-your-own-singularity-is-the-start-of-wisdom-i-suppose/)

[Peter Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-conrad/)

> [The historian's job is to aggrandize, promoting accident to inevitability and innocuous circumstance to portent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-conrad/the-historian-s-job-is-to-aggrandize-promoting-accident-to/)

[Peter Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-conrad/)

[Explore all 3 Peter Conrad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-conrad/)

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> [Nothing has power over you unless you allow it. No matter what happens, you can choose what and how to think, act, and speak!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-has-power-over-you-unless-you-allow-it-no-matter-what-happens/)

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[Browse all 1,065 Allow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allow/)

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