We can finish a house, but never a home. Once you fall in love with a house, you find continual pleasures in fixing it up and making innovations that satisfy your creature's comforts.

Feeling at home with ourselves and being able to create a spirit of place that nourishes us physically, emotionally and spiritually is a goal worthy of our highest priority.

My grandfather was a Methodist preacher, and my father was an unsuccessful businessman. We didn't have status or wealth.

When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.

A lot of people tell me now I'm their inspiration. They say, 'I don't play baseball,' and then they mention whatever - engineer, doctor, college student, high school student - but they're hurt because, for some reason, people feel shame about themselves or embarrassed because they are short or skinny or fat or whatever.

Don't loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club.

Nagasaki is not just an international city with a long and fascinating history. It is a global inspiration for all those who seek to create a safer and more secure world.

For one person, organized files might be a crucial tool for creativity; another person finds inspiration in random juxtapositions.