--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great buildings, like great mountains…" description: "\"Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries.\" — Victor Hugo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg" --- # Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of… ![“Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg) > “Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great structures, like mountains, result from long, collective effort over time. **In simple terms:** Big works need centuries. Key Takeaway Patience builds greatness. Themes architecture history collaboration Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - urban planning - historical preservation - large-scale engineering - cultural heritage Key Concepts long-term planning collective labor Questions to Reflect On - What projects require centuries of effort? - How do you sustain long-term projects? A Different Perspective Patience alone isn’t enough; resources matter. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Centuries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centuries/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Great Buildings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-buildings-1512611/) [Great Mountains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-mountains-1512613/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Mountains Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountains-work-1512614/) [Work Centuries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-centuries-1512612/) ## Related quotes > [“Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of the ages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-edifices-like-great-mountains-are-the-work-of-the-ages/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“The institutions, conventions, customs and laws that make up the complex structure of a society are the work of a hundred centuries and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/the-institutions-conventions-customs-and-laws-that-make-up-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The improvement of forest trees is the work of centuries. So much more the reason for beginning now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-perkins-marsh/the-improvement-of-forest-trees-is-the-work-of-centuries-so-much-more/) [George Perkins Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-perkins-marsh/) > [It is not possible to make great buildings, or great towns, beautiful places, places where you feel yourself, places where you feel alive, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/it-is-not-possible-to-make-great-buildings-or-great-towns-beautiful/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/great-minds-are-related-to-the-brief-span-of-time-during-which-they/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Great buildings that move the spirit have always been rare. 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In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-rucker-eddison/the-great-mountains-of-the-world-are-a-great-remedy-if-men-but-did/) [Eric Rucker Eddison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-rucker-eddison/) > [“they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/they-saw-that-the-great-mountains-had-marched-down-very-near-to-them/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“Without great mountains we cannot reach great heights. And we are born to reach great heights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/without-great-mountains-we-cannot-reach-great-heights-and-we-are-born/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [Everything Changes. The only thing that remains immovable across the centuries and fixes the character of a people is cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/everything-changes-the-only-thing-that-remains-immovable-across-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. 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The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Building quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. 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We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'd like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I'd need building up, though he's very frail now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/i-d-like-to-play-ian-paisley-actually-i-d-need-building-up-though-he/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. Fentress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-w-fentress/) > [As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-witten/as-for-the-forces-electromagnetism-and-gravity-we-experience-in/) [Edward Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-witten/) > [I'm 30. I'm about to hit my prime now. I need to act and keep building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillian-whyte/i-m-30-i-m-about-to-hit-my-prime-now-i-need-to-act-and-keep-building/) [Dillian Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillian-whyte/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) [Browse all 5,974 Building quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are-the-work-of-centuries/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Building" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are-the-work-of-centuries/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e24/victor-hugo-32_building_great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are_2550090.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries.” — Victor Hugo", "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": "Victor Hugo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Great buildings, like great mountains, are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are-the-work-of-centuries/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-buildings-like-great-mountains-are-the-work-of-centuries/#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 } } ] } ```