How does an artist know when the line that he just painted is good or not good? That's the catch. De Kooning was the greatest of my contemporaries in art, and he knew when he'd done a good line. When he didn't, he threw it away. I wish I'd thrown away some of mine.
Philip JohnsonEarly unsuccessess shouldn't bother anybody because it happens to absolutely everybody.
Philip JohnsonI like the thought that what we are to do on this earth is embellish it for its greater beauty, so that oncoming generations can look back to the shapes we leave here and get the same thrill that I get in looking back at theirs - at the Parthenon, at Chartres Cathedral.
Philip JohnsonIf architects weren't arrogant, they wouldn't be architects. I don't know a modest good architect.
Philip Johnson