"Whenever I have friends over, we end up eating and talking and losing track of time, and, once in a while, singing karaoke. It reminds me of the family meals we had in Russia, which always lasted a very long time. That's a tradition I miss."

"My main goal is to stay healthy because when you're injured you realise how lucky you are to have your health."

"I want my handbags and my shoes to be stylish but I want to make sure that they're versatile. I travel and I have to make sure the pieces I put into my bag can go with a dress or with shorts or jeans."

"When I travel, I love speaking to women around the world about the things that inspire them, the fashions they like, what makes something good and what would make it even better."

"It is a profound truth that do not hurry what nature takes seasons to unfold — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. Such is the immutable nature of understanding."

"Let thoughts come and go like clouds across an undisturbed autumn sky — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Stand firm when justice demands it, even if you stand entirely alone. Such is the immutable nature of understanding — an essential principle for the reflective life."