My father was a politician, and a very important politician, and one of the leaders of the Iraqi Democratic Party, who believed in progress.

I don't think that architecture is only about shelter, is only about a very simple enclosure. It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think.

You have to really believe not only in yourself; you have to believe that the world is actually worth your sacrifices.

There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?

Architecture is like writing. You have to edit it over and over so it looks effortless

You really have to have a goal. The goal posts might shift, but you should have a goal. Know what it is you want to find out.

The beauty of the landscape - where sand, water, reeds, birds, buildings, and people all somehow flowed together - has never left me.

I have always appreciated those who dare to experiment with materials and proportions.

Architecture is how the person places herself in the space. Fashion is about how you place the object on the person.

Yes, I'm a feminist, because I see all women as smart, gifted and tough.

I think about architecture all the time. That's the problem. But I've always been like that. I dream it sometimes.

A claim that event horizons exist is like someone's claim to be immortal: You would have to wait until the end of time to confirm the claim.

I love your loneliness. It is brave. It makes the universe want to protect you.

I suppose it's a very highly developed form of denial, but some part of me completely denies that I'm a performer.

Within infinite myths lies the Eternal Truth Who sees it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes Indra, a hundred And I, only two

Suffiseth this to proove my theame withall,That every bullet hath a lighting place.

The common people, on the whole, are still living in the world of absolute good and evil from which the intellectuals have long since escaped.

There are two ways to worry words. One is hoping for the greatest possible beauty in what is created. The other is to tell the truth.

[A]ll change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.

Effective leaders are willing to use power and authority, but they're doing it in the service of the collective good, as opposed to self-aggrandizement.

I want to be the black Madonna.