The book is there for inspiration and as a foundation, the fundamentals on which to build.

A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.

This is the great challenge: to maintain passion for the everyday routine and the endlessly repeated act, to derive deep gratification from the mundane.

The law of diminishing returns is something I really believe in.

Any job worth doing is worth doing well. But to be able to do that, you have to do it over and over again.

Success is measured by the memories you create.

It's not about perfection; it's about the joy of striving.

A cookbook must have recipes, but it shouldn't be a blueprint. It should be more inspirational; it should be a guide.

Respect for food is respect for life, for who we are and what we do.

For me, thats one of the important things about cooking. What was good enough yesterday may not be good enough today.

You have to be driven. You have to be focused. You have to be aware.

Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.

She felt as buoyantly patriotic as her Chechen classmates who could trace their family trees back to the acorns

Whatever it is that hurts you, don't talk to anyone about it.

People say, 'Time heals all wounds.' That may be true, but relocating to an alternate reality can sure help too." -Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Harold Quickly, 1941

If we know anything about man, it's that he's not pacific. The temptation to butcher anyone considered undesirable seems to be a common temptation, not always resisted.

Bad gains are true losses.

The most irritating thing about cliches, I decided, was how frequently they were true.

Nothing like the road to rub all the sand out of your soul.

To have someone who never makes a mistake, never finds her personal life in disarray, never worries about work-life balance? I think that would be unreal. What Im writing is real.

Success rests not only on ability, but upon commitment, loyalty, and pride.