"When I design buildings, I think of the overall composition, much as the parts of a body would fit together. On top of that, I think about how people will approach the building and experience that space."

"I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future."

"Japanese architecture is traditionally based on wooden structures that need renovating on a regular basis."

"I think of the past and the future as well as the present to determine where I am, and I move on while thinking of these things."

"Fear will knock at every door; only those with resolved hearts refuse to let it enter. A lesson woven into the fabric of human history."

"At the start of his second term, one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization?"

"To build a legacy, one must accept that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."