Quotes about cities.

I have picked out the older ones with contemporary relevance

The Roman poet Horace on always longing to be whereve you are not:

In Rome you long for the country; in the country – oh inconstant! – you praise the distant city to the stars. – Horace

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on the comfort that comes from proximity to one’s fellow man:

I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets. 

Historian Arnold Toynbee on the virtues of walkability:

A city that outdistances man’s walking powers is a trap for man.

Plato on economic inequality:

Any city however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich. These are at war with one another. – Plato