"Even when you have doubts, take that step. Take chances. Mistakes are never a failure - they can be turned into wisdom."

"When I was growing up in Mississippi - it was good Southern food... but I also grew up with a Greek family when other kids were eating fried okra, we were eating steamed artichokes. So I think it played a big part in my healthy cooking."

"My humanitarian work evolved from being with my family. My mom, my dad, they really set a great example for giving back. My mom was a nurse, my dad was a school teacher. But my mom did a lot of things for geriatrics and elderly people. She would do home visits for free."

"I want to talk to the bullied kids of the world. Tell them to hang on, it will get better. Know that an 'Iron Chef,' actors, musicians, artists and all successful people have probably been bullied in their life. And the best part of your life is yet to come. Whatever it takes to live, do it!"

"To master the mind is to understand that the river of time shapes the stones of destiny."

"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today."

"A friend who is near and dear may in time become as useless as a relative."

"A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories."