It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57,000 names. Were reaching a time that well acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level. – Maya Lin
The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasnt about money. It was about teaching, or learning. – Maya Lin
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. Its more evident now. – Maya Lin
Its funny, as you live through something youre not aware of it. – Maya Lin
When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they be censored. We were a very insular little family. – Maya Lin
If we cant face death, well never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light. – Maya Lin
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 dont pry into other peoples business. – Maya Lin
I try to give people a different way of looking at their surroundings. Thats art to me. – Maya Lin
Warmth isnt what minimalists are thought to have. – Maya Lin
Even though I build buildings and I pursue my architecture, I pursue it as an artist. I deliberately keep a tiny studio. I dont want to be an architectural firm. I want to remain an artist. – Maya Lin
The process I go through in the art and the architecture, I actually want it to be almost childlike. Sometimes I think its magical. – Maya Lin
In art or architecture your project is only done when you say its done. If you want to rip it apart at the eleventh hour and start all over again, you never finish. I was one of those crazy creatures. – Maya Lin
Art is very tricky because its what you do for yourself. Its much harder for me to make those works than the monuments or the architecture. – Maya Lin
I started studying what the nature of a monument is and what a monument should be. And for the World War III memorial I designed a futile, almost terrifying passage that ends nowhere. – Maya Lin
The definition of a modern approach to war is the acknowledgement of individual lives lost. – Maya Lin
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. – Maya Lin
The role of art in society differs for every artist. – Maya Lin
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. – Maya Lin
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. – Maya Lin
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. – Maya Lin
