--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No, this architecture in Council Bluffs…" description: "\"“No, this architecture in Council Bluffs and Omaha, this whole deeply embedded psychology of the use of space, simply conveys that there is a lot of it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/robert-d-kaplan-12644_old-world_no-this-architecture-in-council-bluffs-a_2170621.png" --- # No, this architecture in Council Bluffs and Omaha, this… ![“No, this architecture in Council Bluffs and Omaha, this whole deeply embedded psychology of the use of space, simply conveys that there is a lot of it. There is no need to make things smaller. That is the American condition, a source of its optimism and its unfriendliness to elites and…” quote by Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/robert-d-kaplan-12644_old-world_no-this-architecture-in-council-bluffs-a_2170621.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/robert-d-kaplan-12644_old-world_no-this-architecture-in-council-bluffs-a_2170621.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/robert-d-kaplan-12644_old-world_no-this-architecture-in-council-bluffs-a_2170621.png) > ““No, this architecture in Council Bluffs and Omaha, this whole deeply embedded psychology of the use of space, simply conveys that there is a lot of it. There is no need to make things smaller. That is the American condition, a source of its optimism and its unfriendliness to elites and aristocracies of all kinds, which requires constraints on space in order to increase the value of their land - which then affords them their social position. This was a crucial difference between the Old World and the New. Virtually unlimited space is the essence of the frontier mentality.”” [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. American abundance of space fuels optimism and a disdain for elite constraints, shaping a frontier mindset distinct from the Old World. **In simple terms:** Space abundance drives optimism and anti‑elitism. Key Takeaway Value openness and avoid unnecessary restrictions. Themes optimism space frontier mentality Mood thoughtful analytical Type non‑fiction political When to use this quote - urban planning - policy making - national identity Key Concepts geography political culture social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How does space affect social equality? - Can limits improve community cohesion? A Different Perspective Excessive space can also lead to wasteful sprawl. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Frontier Mentality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontier-mentality-4646133/) [Old world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-simply-3552888/) [Unlimited Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlimited-space-4646134/) [Use Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-space-1510992/) ## Related quotes > [I'm so drawn to the frontier mentality and that idea of having to figure everything out from scratch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-zittel/i-m-so-drawn-to-the-frontier-mentality-and-that-idea-of-having-to/) [Andrea Zittel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-zittel/) > [“Some people can take up too much space by simply being, that by existing, some people can stifle others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/some-people-can-take-up-too-much-space-by-simply-being-that-by/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I've only ever seen a couple tiny home spaces that are actually a clever use of space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-scott/i-ve-only-ever-seen-a-couple-tiny-home-spaces-that-are-actually-a/) [Jonathan Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-scott/) > [If somebody gives me a chance to do something, I am going to use that space, that time, that light, that whatever it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/if-somebody-gives-me-a-chance-to-do-something-i-am-going-to-use-that/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [To me, stand-up comedy is a place where you can say whatever you want. So to not use that space to say whatever you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/to-me-stand-up-comedy-is-a-place-where-you-can-say-whatever-you-want/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [“It was a brave old world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-a-rayner/it-was-a-brave-old-world/) [Mark A. Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-a-rayner/) > [You're in a terrible spot. It's too late for you to retreat but too soon to act. All you can do is witness. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/you-re-in-a-terrible-spot-it-s-too-late-for-you-to-retreat-but-too/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“His ex-wife dumped him and the kids." Sophia's gaze lifted from the wine she held, met his. "Dumped?" "Yeah, decided there was a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/his-ex-wife-dumped-him-and-the-kids-sophia-s-gaze-lifted-from-the/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“The world remembers the battle ever since by the taxis. A hundred of them were already in the service of the Military Government of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-w-tuchman/the-world-remembers-the-battle-ever-since-by-the-taxis-a-hundred-of/) [Barbara W. Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-w-tuchman/) > [I read American sagas (of the west) and I do not see people who went in search of material things. I see people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-keyes/i-read-american-sagas-of-the-west-and-i-do-not-see-people-who-went-in/) [Alan Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-keyes/) > [“In these days of faith-cures, and hypnotism, and telepathy, and subliminalities – why, the simple old world grows very confusing. But rarely, very rarely novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/in-these-days-of-faith-cures-and-hypnotism-and-telepathy-and/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Robert D. Kaplan > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Or take the opportunity offered to the United States following the attacks of September 11, 2001, when both Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mohammed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/or-take-the-opportunity-offered-to-the-united-states-following-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [When you talk about aiding this country against that country or about fighting terrorism, when you actually take that decision and strip it down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/when-you-talk-about-aiding-this-country-against-that-country-or-about/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“One marker, which I would read a bit later on, tells the familiar story of Narcissa Whitman, "trail-blazer and martyred missionary," who followed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/one-marker-which-i-would-read-a-bit-later-on-tells-the-familiar-story/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [Given the level of anti-Americanism in the world, given the level of frustration with the United States throughout the Muslim world, you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/given-the-level-of-anti-americanism-in-the-world-given-the-level-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The Cold War went on for so long that it bred a kind of worldwide military establishment. Even when budgets went down in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-cold-war-went-on-for-so-long-that-it-bred-a-kind-of-worldwide/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-collapse-of-small-and-medium/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Europe is a landscape; East Asia a seascape. Therein lies a crucial difference between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/europe-is-a-landscape-east-asia-a-seascape-therein-lies-a-crucial/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Macedonia, the inspiration for the French word for "mixed salad" (macedoine), defines the principle illness of the Balkans: conflicting dreams of lost imperial glory.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/macedonia-the-inspiration-for-the-french-word-for-mixed-salad/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The more dynamic the capitalistic expansion, the greater the disparity. It is from the disparity that we are going to get all the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-more-dynamic-the-capitalistic-expansion-the-greater-the-disparity/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [It is easy to be a moral perfectionist when one is politically unaccountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/it-is-easy-to-be-a-moral-perfectionist-when-one-is-politically/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The masses cannot ultimately be free: only the individual can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-masses-cannot-ultimately-be-free-only-the-individual-can-be/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The closer one gets to either the eastern or the southern fringe of the German-speaking world-the closer one gets, in other words, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-closer-one-gets-to-either-the-eastern-or-the-southern-fringe-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“The South China Sea functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans—the mass of connective economic tissue where global sea routes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-south-china-sea-functions-as-the-throat-of-the-western-pacific/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“A better age would have to follow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/a-better-age-would-have-to-follow/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) [Explore all 54 Robert D. Kaplan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## More Old world quotes > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [“In these days of faith-cures, and hypnotism, and telepathy, and subliminalities – why, the simple old world grows very confusing. But rarely, very rarely novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/in-these-days-of-faith-cures-and-hypnotism-and-telepathy-and/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [I read American sagas (of the west) and I do not see people who went in search of material things. I see people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-keyes/i-read-american-sagas-of-the-west-and-i-do-not-see-people-who-went-in/) [Alan Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-keyes/) > [“The world remembers the battle ever since by the taxis. A hundred of them were already in the service of the Military Government of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-w-tuchman/the-world-remembers-the-battle-ever-since-by-the-taxis-a-hundred-of/) [Barbara W. Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-w-tuchman/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“His ex-wife dumped him and the kids." Sophia's gaze lifted from the wine she held, met his. "Dumped?" "Yeah, decided there was a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/his-ex-wife-dumped-him-and-the-kids-sophia-s-gaze-lifted-from-the/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [You're in a terrible spot. It's too late for you to retreat but too soon to act. All you can do is witness. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/you-re-in-a-terrible-spot-it-s-too-late-for-you-to-retreat-but-too/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“It was a brave old world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-a-rayner/it-was-a-brave-old-world/) [Mark A. Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-a-rayner/) > [“You must know, my loved one, that there are beings in the elements which almost appear like mortals, and which rarely allow themselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-de-la-motte-fouqu/you-must-know-my-loved-one-that-there-are-beings-in-the-elements/) [Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-de-la-motte-fouqu/) > [“If a man couldn't escape what he came from, we would most of us still be peasants in Old World hovels. But, if, having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-graves/if-a-man-couldn-t-escape-what-he-came-from-we-would-most-of-us-still/) [John Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-graves/) > [He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-became-another-data-point-in-the-american-experiment-of-self/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break about even for all of us. I have observed for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-masterson/there-are-many-in-this-old-world-of-ours-who-hold-that-things-break/) [Bat Masterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-masterson/) > [“I am a man of the old world, a seed that was transplanted by the wind, a seed which failed to blossom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-am-a-man-of-the-old-world-a-seed-that-was-transplanted-by-the-wind/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) [Browse all 323 Old world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No, this architecture in Council Bluffs and Omaha, this whole deeply embedded psychology of the use of space, simply conveys that there is a lot of it. There is no need to make things smaller. 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