I try to give people a different way of looking at their surroundings. That's art to me.

When I was building the Vietnam Memorial, I never once asked the veterans what it was like in the war, because from my point of view, you don't pry into other people's business.

My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground.

If we can't face death, we'll never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light.

When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they' be censored. We were a very insular little family.