[C]onsider the danger of bulging and... counteract it by providing adequate anchorage, thus shortening the free length of the member and reducing its… - Eduardo Torroja

Bricks are considered to be the first material created by human intelligence from the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. ...The great variety of designs and effects that artists of the past, especially the Arabs... were able to create in their brickwork, assembled with an element so monotonous... can be compared only with the beauty and attractiveness a romantic poet attained by adjusting his verses to the rigidity of a formal meter.

[E]very structure has a resistant function to fulfill... to ensure ...the static equilibrium of the structure for a long period of time.

Before a man can successfully plan a structure... he must study, from every possible angle, the ultimate purpose of his building. Attention must be directed to the basic structural concept before the mathematical process of calculation is undertaken.