Equilibrium requires that the whole of the structure, the form of its elements, and the means of interconnection be so combined that at the supports … - Eduardo Torroja

Even children know that drafting rule is easier to bend flat than across the edges; and... they will not be much surprised if told that for the same width of the rule its resistance is proportional to the square of the thickness and the deflection is inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness. Nevertheless some modern designers seem to be unaware... since they require... beams of such slenderness that they resemble springboards...

Structural design is... very much concerned with art, common sense, sentiment, aptitude, and enjoyment of the task of creating opportune outlines to which scientific calculations will add finishing touches, substantiating that the structure is sound and strong...

One should become so familiar with the structure as to have the feeling of being, in full vitality and sentiment, part of it and of all its elements. ...it is necessary to achieve a sincere Einfühlung [empathy] of the process of resistence... through the deformation that is always essentially united with the process of stressing. ...[T]he comprehension of a structure requires intuitive knowledge of the ethology of its resistance and of its constituent materials.