Ancient Rome was as confident of the immutability of its world and the continual expansion and improvement of the human lot as we are today.

Tahiti has been spoiled for many years, but Bali is one of the few cultures with origins in one of the great ancient cultures which is still alive.

The Achilles Heel of the Americas was the lack of cultural confidence typical of new settlers.

The tourist transports his own values and demands to his destinations and implants them like an infectious disease, decimating whatever values existed before.

The Renaissance is studded by the names of the artists and architects, with their creations recorded as great historical events.

Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us.

No amount of thought can ever reveal what comes unexpectedly.

No phenomenon can be isolated, but has repercussions through every aspect of our lives. We are learning that we are a fundamental part of nature's ecosystems.

The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts.

Illusion is needed to disguise the emptiness within.

Architecture doesn't come from theory. You don't think your way through a building.

I would rather be confused for 10 minutes than bored for 5 seconds.

Oh, the sweetness of giving in, of full surrender.

My dreams tell me who I am.

I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887-1976) lived and painted.

Cary Grant was one of the most marvelous men I've ever met.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch.

When you have set yourself a task finish it.

The ghosts swarm. They speak as one person. Each has left something undone.

Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.

I think you can't do any action without in some way paying homage to John Woo. He's the guy who just invented that sort of next level of poetic nasty action.