German and English firms operate internationally, while French firms do not. The only place where they all have work is in China. Anybody can sell himself in China!

I strive for an architecture from which nothing can be taken away.

A good engineer thinks in reverse and asks himself about the stylistic consequences of the components and systems he proposes.

The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions.

Transparency is not the same as looking straight through a building: it's not just a physical idea, it's also an intellectual one.

Higher ceilings allow the use indirect lighting, which is much healthier and reduces glare.

When I think of some of my earlier work, it really seems a fortunate coincidence that I succeeded.

A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. It's not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it.

You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner.

The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.

Every building is a prototype. No two are alike.

It's hard to be done a favor by a man you hate. It's hard to hate him so much afterwards. Losing an enemy can be worse than losing a friend, if you've had him for long enough.

It isn't enough for you to love money - it's also necessary that money should love you.

It was as if his point of view had, within seconds, gone from that of an ant to that of an eagle. For the sky was hollow, and the world was round.

The worst kind of management seeks a single optimum, a one-scale index of efficiency, like the mindless scales of 1 to 10 for grading a woman's beauty or one to four stars for a movie's appeal.

Chili is much improved by having had a day to contemplate its fate.

I'll tell you something about true love. There's no science to it. It's as natural as the sky.

It's been like that all spring. It's just that balls decided to hang up there. It's hard to catch it when you can't see it. But that's how it's going to be in Oakland in the afternoon anyway.

Can we go back to the part about Moroi girls hanging out in LA?" asked Adrian hopefully. "Can you direct me to some of the…oh, let’s say, more open-minded ones?

The smile broke across his face the way the sunrise set the clouds on fire.

I refuse to be misled by any kind of a mirage about any alleged success of what I write. Those things are too easily exaggerated, and even when they are true, they always mean less than they seem to.