Imperial San Francisco Quotes

“It was in the nature of those who had long dreamt of Pacific empire to stress the optimism with which George Berkeley opened his quatrain. Few pondered the line with which he closed it:

Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The first four acts already past.
A fifth shall close the drama with the day:
Time's noblest offspring is its last.”
― Gray Brechin, Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin

“The idea for this book came to me in 1985 in Venice as I watched that city interact with sea, sky, and wind.”
― Gray Brechin, Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin