If you erased New York, I ...

If you erased New York, I hate to say it, if you erased Frankfurt, even London, the world would not have changed.
 Nicolas Berggruen

Quotes from the same author

Singapore has been incredibly well-managed. It was created out of the swamp, with a strong emotional idea: a safe place for mostly Chinese, but accepting other cultures and other races.
 Nicolas Berggruen
California has something which not every place in the world has: It has what I would call a sunny side, and I don't mean just physically, but the sunny side is a future. California's worth saving, to put it bluntly.
 Nicolas Berggruen
Everybody is different and I think that we live in a material world. But for me, possessing things is not that interesting. Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we're only here for a short period of time. It's what we do and produce, it's our actions, that will last forever. That's real value.
 Nicolas Berggruen