Twombly, frankly, was an acquired taste. I was not in love with Twombly the first time I saw one of his paintings.
I'd be bored to death if I spent all my time with other businesspeople, bankers and lawyers.
Frankly, I'm not sure how far I would get if I attended public school today. It's not just that public schools aren't producing the results we want - it's that we're not giving them what they need to help students achieve at high levels. K-12 education in the United States is deeply antiquated.
My family and I have been blessed with good fortune in the world of business. We've created quite a net worth. My children, two boys, have more money than they will ever need, and they aren't empire builders.
I believe in two things: One, Andrew Carnegie said, 'He who dies with wealth dies in shame.' And someone once said, 'He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes.'
How absurd that our students tuck their cell phones, BlackBerrys, iPads, and iPods into their backpacks when they enter a classroom and pull out a tattered textbook.
Without a doubt, stem cell research will lead to the dramatic improvement in the human condition and will benefit millions of people.
The first dream I had was just to get a college education. I got through college in three years, taking extra classes in summer school.
I've become convinced that Los Angeles is going to become the next contemporary art capital - no other city has more contemporary gallery space than Los Angeles. We've come into our own, finally.
The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.
I believe in the democratization of the arts. What do I mean by that? I think museums, with some exceptions, have a responsibility to educate a much broader public.
I don't see myself as a great discoverer of artists, like Charles Saatchi.
What artists think about the world is often different from how we businessmen see it, and I find that an enriching experience.
The happiest people I've found are in science. These people have three times the IQ - maybe I'm exaggerating. They have a higher IQ than I do. They love what they're doing, they have a good family life, they're satisfied.
Most museums - with all their burdens to pay for exhibitions, administration, and security - really don't have any money really to acquire art, with few exceptions.
Los Angeles is such a great meritocracy. Where can someone with my background - don't have the right family background, the right religion, the right provenance or whatever you want to call it - I come here and I'm accepted. The city's been good to me. And I want to give back.
The biggest barrier we've seen to student progress is this: School policies and practices often prevent good teachers from doing great work and even dissuade some talented Americans from entering the profession. This needs to change.
You can have great teachers, but if you don't have a good principal, you won't have a good school.
Museums do not share their collections with other museums unless they get something in exchange. The Metropolitan will deal with the Louvre, but will they send their stuff to Memphis? No.
Being a Midwesterner, I know that many of the middle-class manufacturing jobs that had been at the heart of our economy are either gone or going, and they're not coming back.
