People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.
Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent.
People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
You know, it's not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself.
The face of a lover is an unknown, precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment.
It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.
I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.
I like having the digital camera on my smart phone, but I also like having a dedicated camera for when I want to take real pictures.
Percentage margins don't matter. What matters always is dollar margins: the actual dollar amount. Companies are valued not on their percentage margins, but on how many dollars they actually make, and a multiple of that.
We've had three big ideas at Amazon that we've stuck with for 18 years, and they're the reason we're successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.
You buy a movie, you should get it anywhere you want it. You pay for a network, you should have that anywhere you want. Same thing with a magazine.
I have a Madonna portrait done in the style of a Russian icon. My mother, the chef Lidia Bastianich, and I bought it together. It reminds me of her.
With four-appetizer, four-entree menus, it's like, give me a break. That's not a restaurant, that's a dinner party.
Your pantry is your first line of defense against food-borne illness and things like high blood pressure and cholesterol.
I'm one of three judges on 'MasterChef' with Gordon Ramsay, but I don't want my own show. I'm kind of used to the sidekick gig.
So, yeah, I can say I always set my expectations so high that I had a lot to live up to.
I want people to perceive me as a guy who wants it. That I play the game with passion and desire. That I'm athletic, that I'm fast, and I'm relentless.
I wanted a woman who could get me out of a Third World prison. Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful.
If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we'll turn out all right.
When you scratch the surface, every one of us has something that we deeply want to contribute to the world. All we have to do is step up and do it.
I worked from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. every night for a year to write the first 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' book.
