The skyscraper and the twentieth century are synonymous; the tall building is the landmark of our age. ... Shaper of cities and fortunes, it is the dream, past and present, acknowledged or unacknowledged, of almost every architect.

It is the rare architect who does not hope in his heart to design a great building and for whom the quest is not a quiet, consuming passion.

One of the most basic human instincts is the need to decorate. Nothing is exempt - the body, the objects one uses, from intimate to monumental, and all personal and ceremonial space. It is an instinct that responds ... to some deep inner urge that has been variously described as the horror of a vacuum and the need to put one's imprint on at least one small segment of the world.

Real estate is the closest thing to the proverbial pot of gold.

Real serious waiting is done in waiting rooms, and what they all have in common is their purpose, or purposelessness, if you will; they are places for doing nothing and they have no life of their own. ... their one constant is what might be called a decorative rigor mortis.

Every age cuts and pastes history to suit its own purposes; art always has an ax to grind.

No matter what an architect may be at home, he becomes a monumentalist when he comes to Washington.