Frederick Law Olmsted

“The enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system.”

“We want a ground to which people may easily go after their day's work is done, and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets.”

“The beauty of the park should be the beauty of the fields, the meadow, the prairie, of the green pastures, and the still waters.”

“The most valuable and the most interesting objects of art in a park are its trees.”

“What we want is a simple, broad, open space of clean greensward, with sufficient play of surface and a sufficient number of trees about it to supply a variety of light and shade.”

“A park is a work of art.”

“Service must precede art.”

“The main object and justification of the park is simply to produce a certain influence in the minds of people and through this to make life in the city healthier and happier.”

“The primary purpose of the Park is to provide the best practicable means of healthful recreation for the inhabitants of all classes.”

“Is it not a political duty of the rich to provide for the poor a recreation which shall be cheap, innocent, and healthful?”

“Scenery is not a luxury, but a necessity of life.”

“I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future.”