As many Europeans and other people from other countries, I have been led into my present activity by a very specific American gift of trade.

I would say that if something has an aesthetic value and it is pleasing to watch or to wear, it may in fact have nothing to do with status symbol. You just like to wear it.

I would say that it is a trait by which Americans, searching for things which are different or new, seem to recognize the gift that people may have that cause people do to things.

People have to identify with something to show they have reached a certain goal. Anyway, in Russia it's done with medals. You put on all these medals to show who you are.

Consumerism, what kind of car you have, what kind of house you have in the country and so on, and that is all very incidental when you examine the kind of person he may be. He may be a big bore, and then there is a person who hasn't done a thing in the world and he is a fascinating person.

We are in a very strange way going back to the mentality of the time when Americans went in covered wagons. I imagine they had a piece of cloth, and the piece of furniture they carried with them meant to be a good piece of wood, and sturdy. We're going back to that.

As many Europeans and other people from other countries, I have been led into my present activity by a very specific American gift of trade.