I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool.

A jazz musician can improvise based on his knowledge of music. He understands how things go together. For a chef, once you have that basis, that's when cuisine is truly exciting.

Excellence is about fighting and pursuing something diligently, with a strict and determined approach to doing it right. It's okay if there are flaws in the process - it makes it more interesting.

You have to be critical of what you do every day, to analyze it and be willing to push it further.

I love faltering. I love, in a sense, coming up short. Because you learn nothing from success. You learn so much from failing.

The art of cooking is among the most intimate things that we can do for another.

Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit.

I’m all about making money. It’s the greatest thing, because it means you get money to spend.

Fernand Point's philosophy instilled what cuisine is all about: generosity and hugeness of heart.

My fantasy is to have a restaurant where there are no written menus, but where you just ask people, What are you in the mood for? Fish? Meat? White wine?

It's a challenge to demonstrate that you can prepare some really interesting food with humble ingredients.

It was not accustomed to being summoned.

If you can't get a miracle, become one.

And there he lay in his bed, a broken man, worn out by a way of life which had been thrust upon him because of the antics of a wayward pig.

The markets want to force us to do certain things. That we won't do. Politicians have to make sure that we're unassailable, that we can make policy for the people.

I never made a person look bad. They do that themselves.

I don't have a philosophical objection, necessarily, to a travel ban if that is the thing that is going to keep the American people safe.

In your thinking be a goal setter, but in your actions be a goal getter.

I think people who create and write, it actually does flow-just flows from into their head, into their hand, and they write it down. It's simple.

It's misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman's sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than (one) film.

It is more blessed to give than to receive, and therefore less blessed to receive than to give.