Do you want to be something more?

“Even a common, ordinary brick wants to be something more than it is. Wants to be better than what it is. And that is what we must be.” from “Indecent proposal” (1993)

David: Great architecture is only going to come from your passion. And even that won’t assure you a job. Louie Kahn, died in a men’s room in Penn Station for days no one claimed the body. (slide shows the Salk Institute) Look at that, is that beautiful? The money men did not weep, because the great ones are impossible to deal with, they’re a pain in the ass because they know that if they do their jobs properly, if they just once get it right they can actually lift the human spirit, take it to a higher place. (holds up a brick) What is this?
Student #1: A brick!
David: Good. What else?
Student #2: A weapon.
David: Louie Kahn said that even a brick wants to be something. A brick wants to be something. It aspires. Even a common, ordinary brick wants to be something more than it is. Wants to be better than what it is. And that is what we must be. See ya on Friday.