Quotes from Ruth Reichl

Captured by the cooking, I had a fleeting thought that I'd spent too many years trading time for money.

You look like a cat touching a mirror," said Carol, watching me. "You know the way they look at themselves and then reach out a paw as if they can't believe it's glass and not another cat?

He was a tall, thin stork of a man who stalked into my office, disapproval etched into every line of his body. His head was small, the hair so closely cropped that you couldn't help noticing his compact, neat ears. His face bore so few distinguishing characteristics I thought that if you tried to describe him you'd end up noting his impeccable posture and that he was very, very clean.

In time, I came to understand that for people who really love it, food is a lens through which to view the world. For us, the way that people cook and eat, how they set their tables, and the utensils that they use all tell a story.

In the end you are the only one who can make yourself happy, More important, Mom showed me that it is never too late to find out how to do it.

oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another hour or so, until the top is golden and the aroma so wonderful that everyone is standing hopefully in the kitchen, forks at the ready.

I close my eyes and feel the flavors somersaulting through my mouth, a circus of sensations.

And I still believe, to the core of my being, that when you pay attention, cooking becomes a kind of meditation.

when you cook for people, they feel cared for.

I'm just an actor, and no more interesting than you are. She scribbled her name. Probably not as interesting, actually You should pay more attention to yourself and less to people like me. You'll be better off that way.

if things can change for the worse, the opposite is also true. But only if you open yourself to the possibilities.

I got back into the car thinking how lucky I was to be aware of happiness!

I felt for the first time that the library belonged here. The house was reclaiming its spirit, and the library, which had stood aloof and apart for so many years, was turning back into what it was always meant to be: the heart of this home.

A year earlier, restaurants had been asking if he wanted a booster seat; now they asked if he'd like a drink.

we were attempting to snatch hope from the rubble of our broken city. And food was the perfect way to do it.

Any soul who has survived to the age of eighty - two with nary a secret would be extremely dull. I, for one, would have very little interest in making their acquaintance.

When you attain my age you will understand one of life's great secrets: Luxury is best appreciated in small portions. When it becomes routine it loses its allure.

What I want most for you is challenging work that makes you proud. It's the key to happiness.

Even the most avid technocrat must occasionally escape from virtual space, and what better place to do it than the kitchen, with all its dangerous knives and delicious aromas?

Mom ignored this as she shifted into the aggressive tone she used at her most manic. By then we'd learned to read Mom's moods; after years on a psychiatrist's couch she'd finally been diagnosed as bipolar, and we'd come to expect the extreme swings that moved through her like weather, altering every aspect of her being. The

You mean like you?" The old enmity had come roaring back, and she was no longer one of my bosses. She gave a shout of laughter. "Well, you're right, it's been a rotten time. I've been catering, which is just another way of saying that I've been in hell." "That bad?" Richard took a bite

She was also completely candid about wanting to work with people she could learn from. My first boss, Rosalie Wright, had been much the same. Rosalie is the toughest person I've ever met: She bucked enormous pressure to run major investigative articles in New West.

But when people flatter you constantly it is very tempting to think that you deserve it.

It was a completely innocent remark. To me, the subway is more than a quick way to get from one place to another. It is New York in miniature, an intimate glimpse of the city. You rub shoulders with everyone who lives here, find out what they're reading, see what they're wearing, eavesdrop on their conversations.