Ruth Reichl > Quotes

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”
― Ruth Reichl

“Anyone who thinks they're too grown up or too sophisticated to eat caramel corn, is not invited to my house for dinner”
― Ruth Reichl

“Every restaurant is a theater, and the truly great ones allow us to indulge in the fantasy that we are rich and powerful. When restaurants hold up their end of the bargain, they give us the illusion of being surrounded by servants intent on ensuring our happiness and offering extraordinary food.
But even modest restaurants offer the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while. Restaurants free us from mundane reality; that is part of their charm. When you walk through the door, you are entering neutral territory where you are free to be whoever you choose for the duration of the meal.”
― Ruth Reichl

“...in the end you are the only one who can make yourself happy. More important, ...it is never too late to find out how to do it.”
― Ruth Reichl, Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way

“When a person has lived generously and fought fiercely, she deserves more than sadness at the end.”
― Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

“She was a great cook, but she cooked more for herself than for other people, not because she was hungry but because she was comforted by the rituals of the kitchen.”
― Ruth Reichl, Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

“...it was so rich and exotic I was seduced into taking one bite and then another as I tried to chase the flavors back to their source.”
― Ruth Reichl

“I felt that I was really living in the moment. I did not know where my life was going, but right now the future did not trouble me.”
― Ruth Reichl, Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

“A thousand years ago the Chinese had an entirely codified kitchen while the French were still gnawing on bones. Chopsticks have been around since the fourth century B.C. Forks didn't show up in England until 1611, and even then they weren't meant for eating but just to hold the meat still while you hacked at it with your knife.”
― Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

“I am telling you that if things can change for the worse, the opposite is also true. But only if you open yourself to the possibilities.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“Throughout human history beauty has been seen as a gift from God, but Mom had another notion; she thought that beauty could be earned through self-knowledge. It may be a revolutionary idea, but it has offered me great comfort.”
― Ruth Reichl, Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way

“Go ahead into life, full-blooded, courageous and leap for the adventure. But you must do it soon—before the summer of your youth has cooled off into caution. You are magnificently charming—and you come like a torrent. But you will be spent on the futility of little things. You are not a watercolor. You are carved out of life—and there can be no petty hesitancies about you.”
― Ruth Reichl, For You Mom, Finally

“You'll find that historical research is extremely soothing. When you spend all day among old papers, the people come alive for you, and you begin to see the present through different eyes. You'll see. You view young people knowing that this is only one moment in time and it's passing very quickly. It's comforting. You begin to understand that time is no more than a trick of the mind; some days I'm convinced that my young self is still here, somewhere, just walking down a different street." Anne”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“Growing up, I was utterly oblivious to the fact that Mom was teaching me all that. But I was instantly aware of her final lesson, which was hidden in her notes and leters. As I read them I began to understand that 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.”
― Ruth Reichl, Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way

“...I was not prepared for the feel of the noodles in my mouth, or the purity of the taste. I had been in Japan for almost a month, but I had never experiences anything like this. The noodles quivered as if they were alive, and leapt into my mouth where they vibrated as if playing inaudible music.”
― Ruth Reichl

“When people flatter you constantly it is very tempting to think you deserve it.”
― Ruth Reichl

“and he smiled when he saw me, as if just the sight of me had improved his day.”
― Ruth Reichl, Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

“While cooking demands your entire attention, it also rewards you with endlessly sensual pleasures... The seductive softness of chocolate beginning to melt from solid to liquid. The tug of sauce against the spoon when it thickens in teh pan, and the lovely lightness of Parmesan drifting from the grater in gossamer flakes. Time slows down in teh kitchen, offering up an entire universe of small satisfactions.”
― Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

“I had done this. I had pulled my life apart. I would never, ever be safe again.”
― Ruth Reichl, Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

“A great meal is an experience that nourishes more than your body.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“Change works both ways. You must accept those moments, experience them, and let them go. Because if you allow yourself to get stuck in that minute, nothing will ever change.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“That's what I like so much about libraries, they smell the way we would like to imagine the past.”
― Ruth Reichl

“Lulu writes: “When Mother, Mr. Jones and I were walking through those strange, crowded downtown streets, where people were sticking their hands into pickle barrels, pointing to smoked fish, and eating sliced herring, I saw the scene in a whole new way. They weren’t buying food: They were finding their way home.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“My yogurt was nestled into a bag, waiting to turn into aushak, and all around us were sausages and pastry, lollipops and spices, chicken and cheese. Any world that contained all this, I thought surveying our loot, was a very fine place. I felt reinvigorated, alive, optimistic. The though of getting back to work suddenly seemed like fun.”
― Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

“I'd rather be a fool than hard-hearted.”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“Giving people presents is such an intimate act; you’re basically telling them who you think they are,”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“I got back into the car thinking how lucky I was to be aware of happiness. Most people don’t recognize their own good fortune until it has departed. And then it is too late.” “What about Remy? What”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don’t know how to do, to keep learning.”
― Ruth Reichl

“That's the most terrible thing about being a child; you're convinced that it's all your fault." Lulu”
― Ruth Reichl, Delicious!

“But I have always been persuaded that someday, when I grow up, I am destined for great things. And then I wonder when, exactly, I expect that will be.”
― Ruth Reichl