The problem with a lot of Chinese is that they put up divisions between Taiwanese, Hong Kong natives, mainlanders. We are never united. I really hope that the Chinese can be more united.

When you have a good stock, you can make a good soup.

Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful.

First of all, I can't really claim to be a great chef.

I don't like to waste anything. Any food left over from the night before is always eaten the next day.

You don't have to show people how successful you are.

I think a lot of times it's not money that's the primary motivation factor; it's the passion for your job and the professional and personal satisfaction that you get out of doing what you do that motivates you.

I remember when I was in college, I used to watch Julia Child's cooking show during dinner and joke with my roommates about becoming a TV chef.

Because normally with Western cuisine, you'll serve vegetables separate from the meat, so kids will eat the meat and never touch the vegetables.

I enjoy the quiet life.

The hoopla, the applause, the praises have never excited me.

The problem with a lot of Chinese is that they put up divisions between Taiwanese, Hong Kong natives, mainlanders. We are never united. I really hope that the Chinese can be more united.

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

I think being famous is more of a hindrance, a constraint, than just letting yourself be free.

Why is America such a great country. It is because we stand united.

You can do almost anything with soup stock, it's like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good.

I have a lot of cooking tools. In fact I have a whole drawer full of knives. Cooking tools, especially cutlery, are my toys.

When I retire or pass away, I will be able to look back and say that this has been an exciting life. That's all that matters.

A lot of people don't enjoy their job, they may even hate it, but I am lucky enough to be able to make a living through my passion.

As long as the food is well prepared and not overdone, I think it tastes good. It doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Japanese, anything.

If I could only have one type of food with me, I would bring soy sauce. The reason being that if I have soy sauce, I can flavor a lot of things.

Some people never contribute anything positive to society, they may even drain our resources, but most of us try to do something better, to give back.

Just like if you were brought up on a farm, you would most likely carry on your father's business as a farmer; I was brought up in the kitchen and ended up becoming a chef.

Anyone that has come to America past the age of eighteen will be able to understand when I say that you can never shake your accent.

I can represent my culture while helping not only the Chinese-American community, but also the community at large.

I normally don't eat junk food.

I am just a normal professional with a great job and a great life.

I live a very low-key life.

Well, you know, if you get into the profession because you think you can make a lot of money, you can never become successful.

The only thing that counts is if you know how to prepare your ingredients. Even if with the best and freshest ingredients in the world, if your dish is tasteless or burnt, it's ruined.

In general I love to eat anything. I enjoy anything that is well prepared, a good spaghetti, lasagna, taco, steak, sushi, refried beans.

I also have a lot of preserved foods, things that will keep for a long time like dried fish, seaweed or lotus seed.

Chinese culture has a lot of virtues that are tremendously valuable to not only us as Asian-Americans, but also the world in general.

People who don't travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what's in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live.

At thirteen, when I arrived in Hong Kong after leaving China, I made a living by working in a restaurant.

I've never considered myself a celebrity or even part of the entertainment business. I'm a cooking teacher.

When you enjoy what you do, work becomes play.

So when I do Chinese cooking, I mix everything together, then the kids have to eat their vegetables. They won't have the patience to pick them out.

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

The tender heart, the broken and contrite spirit, are to me far above all the joys that I could ever hope for in this vale of tears.

The most important training, though, is to experience life as a writer, questioning everything, inventing multiple explanations for everything. If you do that, all the other things will come; if you don't, there's no hope for you.

I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one 'race' - the human race - and that we are all members of it.

The only hope is that our civilization will collapse at a certain point, as always happens in history. Then, out of barbarity, a renaissance.

Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.

Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is very good company by the way.

I don't sit in the corner waiting for death: death has to pursue me. I'm going strong. I hope to reach 100 and ask for an extension, just like my grandmother did.

When I talk to people in need, they tell me they want to hope; they are eager for opportunity; they are ready for better days. And I can tell you that every time their hopes are disappointed, all nations lose.