Louis Sullivan, "The tall office building artistically considered" in Lippincott's Magazine (March 1896).
“

Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change form does not change.

— Louis Sullivan on Eagles

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change form does not change." in the context of "Louis Sullivan, "The tall office building artistically considered" in Lippincott's Magazine (March 1896)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Eagles" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Louis Sullivan

About Louis Sullivan

Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, the "father of modernism", and a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright.