Wim Wenders

"In Japanese crafts, pottery for example, there is an emphasis on the nobility of the process, with the repetitive nature of making a pot again and again leading to perfection. Hirayama is, admittedly, no craftsman, he cleans and maintains restrooms in Tokyo – which are works of art in themselves – but he nevertheless approaches the task with the same eye for detail, pride and dedication with which a master potter approaches ceramics.

You know, the potter’s secret is doing it for the first time each time, and for our man, Hirayama, it’s the same. Each day, he’s doing it for the first time. And he’s not thinking how he did it yesterday, and not thinking how he will do it tomorrow. He’s always doing it in the moment. And that’s the potter’s secret as well. And that’s what gives a whole different dignity to any repetition.

Repetition as such, if you live it as repetition, you become the victim of it. If you manage to live it in the moment, as if you’ve never done it before, it becomes a whole different thing."