A Quote by Michel De Certeau

More than its utilitarian and technocratic transparency, it is the opaque ambivalence of its oddities that makes the city livable.

Michel De Certeau

Quote Topics

Ambivalence City Livable Makes More Oddities Opaque Than Transparency Utilitarian

Quote Author

Michel De Certeau
French - Writer

It is nothing short of baffling to me how a city like Melbourne, where I struggle to find accessible facilities on a very regular basis, could be considered the most livable city in the world. I suppose it all depends on what makes a city 'livable' for you.

Stella Young

But nothing is more opaque than absolute transparency.

Margaret Atwood

The Italians have long known what makes a livable town or city.

Norman Foster

We don't do ambivalence well in America. We do courage of our convictions. We do might makes right. Ambivalence is French. Certainty is American.

Anna Quindlen

The IMF and the World Bank, the most opaque and secretive entities, put millions into NGOs who fight against "corruption" and for "transparency." They want the Rule of Law - as long as they make the laws. They want transparency in order to standardise a situation, so that global capital can flow without any impediment.

Arundhati Roy

First we need to rethink the terms and recognize that we've imported this language from the technocratic class, from Silicon Valley, that talks about openness and transparency.

Astra Taylor

There's a transparency revolution sweeping the world. The more you can have transparency of payments, the more you'll be able to follow the money and the more you'll be able to see that payments for mineral rights in poor countries actually go to the people who need it, and don't get put into a kleptocrat's pocket. Transparency is terribly important for us.

Michael Elliott

In reality the workings of your governing system are opaque and covert, while hiding in the chattering spotlight of an ostensible transparency, even though the ultimate objective is clear.

Breyten Breytenbach

We need this city to actually live up to its name-The City of Angels. We need to spread our wings. We need to show that we are more than red carpets, we are more than Hollywood, that we are a city ourselves of open arms. We are a city of generosity and compassion.

Maria Shriver

If you thrive on the city energy it is necessary to leave the city frequently and to walk in parks, to get away from people. You are more sensitive than you realize. Find a spot that makes you happy.

Frederick Lenz

The construct of William Gibson the Writer is coming down, and become more open. It's more of a Glasnost - Transparency! Transparency is what it is.

William Gibson

A city always contains more than any inhabitant can know, and a great city always makes the unknown and the possible spurs to the imagination.

Rebecca Solnit

We tell stories with maps about global warming, biodiversity; we can design more livable cities, track the spread of epidemics. That makes a difference.

Jack Dangermond

Las Vegas, Nevada: A city where oddities don't make you lame, But instead bring you riches and fortune and fame.

Walter Wykes

That's how people make sense of a meeting: they eat something. If they were in a sad moment it would be the same thing, they'd be eating something. It's what makes life fun. We don't need it to be delicious or great or all these things if we're just to survive. But it's one of those things that makes life fun, livable. And the more I submerge myself in it, the more fun I seem to have.