Modernist buildings exclude dialogue, and the void that they create around themselves is not a public space but a desertification

Art once made a cult of beauty. Now we have a cult of ugliness instead. This has made art into an elaborate joke, one which by now has ceased to be funny.

There is a deep human need for beauty and if you ignore that need in architecture your buildings will not last

Modernism in architecture went hand in hand with socialist and fascist projects to rid old Europe of its hierarchical past

A writer who says that there are no truths, or that all truth is ‘merely relative,’ is asking you not to believe him. So don’t.

Through the pursuit of beauty we shape the world as a home, and in doing so we both amplify our joys and find consolation for our sorrows.

The culture of a civilization is the art and literature through which it rises to consciousness of itself and defines its vision of the world.

Art and music shine a light of meaning on ordinary life, and through them we are able to confront the things that trouble us and to find consolation and peace in their presence.

It is not enough to be nice; you have to be good. We are attracted by nice people; but only on the assumption that their niceness is a sign of goodness.

In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel.

There are no chords in modernist architecture, only lines - lines that may come to an end, but that achieve no closure

It's not that we use technology, we live technology.

At the very smallest wheel of our reasoning it is possible for a handful of questions to break the bank of our answers.

Even the bravest only rarely have courage for what they really know.

The business of America is not business. Neither is it war. The business of america is justice and securing the blessings of liberty.

I covet honour in the same way as a miser covets gold.

I think there's going to be a very sudden shift in people's perception of the International Space Station, because suddenly it's going to look much, much bigger than it already is.

We buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them.