In the proposed book, written in the form of a conversation with an inquisitive reader, the author tried to collect all the ideas and, accordingly, their constructive embodiments aimed at ensuring the seismic resistance of structures. The path of some ideas is traced from ancient times to the present day. The popular form of the book did not prevent the consideration of modern problems of earthquake-resistant construction in it. For specialists in the field of earthquake-resistant construction and everyone interested in seismic resistance problems.