“Some of your teachers are actually closer in age to you than you think.”
Age
“The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasn't about money. It was about teaching, or learning.”
LearningAll Quotes by Maya Lin
“Art is very tricky because it's what you do for yourself. It's much harder for me to make those works than the monuments or the architecture.”
Architecture“You should be having more fun in high school, exploring things because you want to explore them and learning because you love learning-not worrying about competition.”
Learning“How we are using up our home, how we are living and polluting the planet is frightening. It was evident when I was a child. It's more evident now.”
Home“I deliberately did not read anything about the Vietnam War because I felt the politics of the war eclipsed what happened to the veterans. The politics were irrelevant to what this memorial was.”
Politics“To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.”
Freedom“The definition of a modern approach to war is the acknowledgement of individual lives lost.”
War“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.”
Business“Warmth isn't what minimalists are thought to have.”
Architecture“The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasn't about money. It was about teaching, or learning.”
Learning“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.”
Death“I left science, then I went into art, but I approach things very analytically. I choose to pursue both art and architecture as completely separate fields rather than merging them.”
Architecture“It's funny, as you live through something you're not aware of it.”
Funny“I probably spent the first 20 years of my life wanting to be as American as possible. Through my 20s, and into my 30s, I began to become aware of how so much of my art and architecture has a decidedly Eastern character.”
Architecture“I try to give people a different way of looking at their surroundings. That's art to me.”
Architecture“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.”
Dad“The process I go through in the art and the architecture, I actually want it to be almost childlike. Sometimes I think it's magical.”
Architecture“I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the teachers. This one chemistry teacher, she liked hanging out. I liked making explosives. We would stay after school and blow things up.”
Teacher“It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57,000 names. We're reaching a time that we'll acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level.”
War“The role of art in society differs for every artist.”
Society