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«I think one of the reasons I teach and stay in touch with the university is to tap into youthful optimism. People say, “Why should you teach? Why should you mess with these guys? Why not go out and practice and do work day in and day out on your own?” You get older. You become cynical. You become jaded. You can’t help it. It seems to be the way Jewish liberals end up. But when you go into a class at Yale, say, and you meet a bunch of kids in their twenties, they’re vibrant, intelligent, talented, and they’re talking about the future. And you can say, Well, I was there, and look at me. If I could do it, they can do it. And maybe they’re going to do it better. Multiply that in your mind times the hundreds and thousands and millions of kids like that. [laughs] You’ve got to feel the world’s going to go on. It is a guard against cynicism. It stops you short. God, when I was their age we were threatened by the bomb, Hitler, polio. We were threatened by terrible political upheavals and anti-Semitism. It’s short-sighted to think they’re not going to deal with similar problems, because they are. So teaching taps you into this optimism. I also did something a lot of people my age are doing these days: I had another life—a new wife and young kids. I can’t see them without feeling that there’s a future out there. You have to be optimistic. I still have all these doubts and conflicts, but the bottom line is, I believe in the future.»

Frank Gehry (1929-2025)

"New Again: Frank Gehry". Interview with Angela Ledgerwood and Ross Miller, Interview Magazine, September 19, 2012.