He takes great joy in standing anonymously in a corner of his building, watching children in busloads gasp with awe over his beautiful creation. When he was designing this building, the stonemasons wanted him to blunt a sharp edge, because they were afraid it might break off. He told them he knew they were right, but he was willing to take that chance. In art, you have to do that - when you agree with your critics and naysayers, they have no way to come back at you. Turns out Pei was right about his sharp angle.
People approach the building, and go right up and touch the controversial point.
The opportunity for originality is there. If you don't learn and grow as an artist, you only repeat. Then you don't make any contribution at all. Each work is like adding another grain of sand to time. When I look at the work of I.M. Pei, I can hear his music in the sky above and around it.