Wonder Quote

Great Bath		 “Yet in this captious and intenible sieve
I still pour in the waters of my love
And lack not to lose still: thus, Indian-like,
Religious in mine error, I adore
The sun, that looks upon his worshipper,
But knows of him no more.”
—William Shakespeare

Hanging Gardens		 “The ascent to the highest story is by stairs, and at their side are water engines, by means of which persons, appointed expressly for the purpose, are continually employed in raising water from the Euphrates into the garden.”
—Strabo

Stonehenge		 “Can you imagine trying to talk six hundred people into helping you drag a fifty-ton stone eighteen miles across the countryside and muscle it into an upright position, and then saying, ‘Right, lads! Another twenty like that … and then we can party!”
—Bill Bryson

Temple of Artemis		 “When I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.”
—Antipater of Sidon

Etemenanki		 “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.”
—Genesis 11:4

Pyramids		 “From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte

Great Lighthouse		 “This Lighthouse was the cynosure of all eyes.”
—Henry David Thoreau

Oracle		 “I sprang upon the swift ship in the form of a dolphin, pray to me as Apollo Delphinius; also the altar itself shall be called Delphinius and overlooked forever.”
—Homer

Apadana		 “My ancestor Darius made this Apadana, but it was burnt down. By the grace of Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mithra, I reconstructed this Apadana.”
—Artaxerxes II

Colosseum		 “While the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, the world shall fall.”
—Saint Bede

Colossus		 “At Rhodes was set up a Colossus of seventy cubits high, representing the Sun … the artist expended as much bronze on it as seemed likely to create a dearth in the mines.”
—Philo of Byzantium

Great Library		 “We can roam the bloated stacks of the Library of Alexandria, where all imagination and knowledge are assembled; we can recognize in its destruction the warning that all we gather will be lost.”
—Alberto Manguel

Jebel Barkal		 “At the south-west corner a large perpendicular mass of sandstone has become separated by a deep fissure from the body of the mountain … it has all the appearance of a colossal statue.”
—E. A. Wallis Budge

Machu Picchu		 “...Eagles fly, The turrets round, and seem to flout the sky;
They eye those walls now crumbling in decay,
And scare from quiet rest their destined prey.”
—Samuel Prout Hill

Mahabodhi Temple		 “In a dusty, bustling corner of the Indian state of Bihar, there is a magical place that one might think of as the hub of Buddhism.”
—Visitor's Guide, Bodh Gaya

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus		 “A vast tomb lies over me in Halicarnassus, of such dimensions, of such exquisite beauty as no other shade can boast.”
—Lucian of Samosata

Petra		 “Petra is a brilliant display of man's artistry in turning barren rock into majestic wonder.”
—Edward Dawson

Statue of Zeus		 “Upon the head of the god was an olive crown; in his right hand he bore a winged figure of Victory.”
—Samuel Augustus Mitchell

Terracotta Army		 “There were seven wonders in the world, and the discovery of the Terracotta Army, we may say, is the eighth miracle of the world.”
—Jacques Chirac

Alhambra		 “Everything here appears calculated to inspire kind and happy feelings, for everything is delicate and beautiful.”
—Washington Irving

Angkor Wat		 “The temple is surrounded by a moat, and access is by a single bridge, protected by two stone tigers so grand and fearsome as to strike terror into the visitor.”
—Diogo do Couto

Chichen Itza		 “The Great Ball Court is also very impressive. I would like to have seen them play a game, although it sounds like the end was pretty violent. I think it was safer to be a spectator.”
—IslaDeb

Hagia Sophia		 “It is a beautiful and important monument and an international, inter-cultural treasure … Unless and until it can be shared by both religions in harmony – which would be a grand idea – it should remain a secular building honoring both religions who have made it beautiful.”
—Ljubo Vujovic

Huey Teocalli		 “But the wrath of Huitzilopochtli was great, and as the sacrifice passed each of the four rooms dedicated to the sun god, the sun disappeared or reappeared in the sky.”
—Fray Diego Durán

Kilwa Kisiwani		 “Kilwa is one of the most beautifully built cities in the world; the houses there are entirely made of wood, their rooftops out of rope grass, and it rains with great vigour.”
—Ibn Battuta

Kotoku-in		 “O ye who tread the Narrow Way, by Tophet-flare to Judgment Day, be gentle when ‘the heathen’ pray, to Buddha at Kamakura!”
—Rudyard Kipling

Meenakshi Temple		 “We greet you, Devi Meenakshi, she who shines like a thousand-million suns, adorned with bracelets and garlands... She who is auspicious, she who embodies existence. I always bow to you, whose compassion is an ocean.”
—Adi Shankara

Mont St. Michel		 “Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont Saint Michel, and the business of all is to fight, each in his own way, or to stand guard for each other.”
—Henry Adams

University of Sankore		 “Scholars are the heirs of the prophets, for the prophets did not leave behind a legacy of wealth but that of knowledge.”
—Musnad al-Bazzar 10/68

Casa de Contratación		 “All other lands found on the western side of the boundary shall belong to the King and Queen of Castille—and their successors.”
—Treaty of Tordesillas

Forbidden City		 “The whole palace complex is built along a central axis, the axis of the world, everything in the four directions suspend from this central point represented by these palaces.”
—Jeffrey Riegel

Great Zimbabwe		 “King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.”
—1 Kings, 10:13

Országház		 “With self-government is freedom, and with freedom is justice and patriotism.”
—Lajos Kossuth

Panama Canal		 “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”
—Psalms 46:2-3

St. Basil’s Cathedral		 “One had a twisted design, red, on a green ground; another, all prickly angles, yellow and black; a third was ornamented with scales of blue and crimson; a [fourth] was in quarters like a melon.”
—Katharine Blanche Guthrie

Taj Mahal		 “Did you ever build a castle in the air? Here is one, brought down to earth and fixed for the wonder of ages.”
—Bayard Taylor

Torre de Belém		 “No vessel could pass these guns without being seriously assailed.”
—Laure Junot Abrantes

Venetian Arsenal		 “The Commonwealth of Venice in their armory have this inscription: 'Happy is that city which in time of peace thinks of war.'”
—Robert Burton

Potala Palace		 “The first time I stepped onto the rooftop of the Potala Palace, I felt, as never before or since, as if I were stepping onto the rooftop of my being: onto some dimension of consciousness that I’d never visited before.”
—Pico Iyer

Bolshoi Theatre		 “Bolshoi Ballet is a universe of the imagination, a place of magic and enchantment, beauty and romance. Its many worlds vibrate with graceful dancers, glorious music, and sumptuous costumes.”
—Trudy Garfunkel

Oxford University		 “The clever men at Oxford... Know all that there is to be knowed. But they none of them know one half as much... As intelligent Mr. Toad!”
—Kenneth Grahame

Ruhr Valley		 “The industrial heart of Germany practically stopped beating. Hardly anyone worked; hardly anything ran. The population of the Ruhr area … had to be supported by the rest of the country.”
—Adam Fergusson

Statue of Liberty		 “Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning.”
—Emma Lazarus

Big Ben		 “Don’t watch the big clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
—Sam Levenson

Hermitage		 “Museums are on the front lines of the fight for culture, of good with evil - in any case, of the fight against platitudes and primitiveness.”
—Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage

Amundsen-Scott Research Station		 “For scientific leadership, give me Scott; for swift and efficient travel, Amundsen.”
—Sir Raymond Priestley

Broadway		 “There's no business like show business.”
—Irving Berlin, Annie Get Your Gun

Cristo Redentor		 “Thus, the sculpture serves to give people one thought - 'Everything is in God's hands.'”
—Sergey Semenov

Eiffel Tower		 “I ought to be jealous of the tower. She is more famous than I am.”
—Gustave Eiffel

Golden Gate Bridge		 “The Golden Gate of Sleep unbar
Where Strength and Beauty, met together,
Kindle their image like a star
In a sea of glassy weather!”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley

Biosphère		 “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”
—Henry David Thoreau

Estádio do Maracanã		 “Down through its history, only three people have managed to silence the Maracana: the Pope, Frank Sinatra, and me.”
—Alcides Ghiggia, Uruguayan soccer player

Sydney Opera House		 “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.”
—Maria Callas

Created by Eatyourburger.