112 Quotes by David Chang

I began to understand that what holds us back from culinary progress is often some cultural roadblock that we honor in the name of preservation - the kind of arbitrary roadblock that says, You're not supposed to do that with kimchi.

I wanted so badly to please him and my mom. I was simply incapable. What happens when you live with a tiger that you can't please is that you're always afraid.

NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING, SO DO WHAT YOU WANT.

You never know who's going to hold the keys to the castle. It's tempting to think you're too important to speak to the young intern who's been sent to interview you or the blogger who only has fifty followers. But if they approach you respectfully and earnestly, you should never be so stupid and arrogant as to dismiss them. If you brush off one too many smart kids, you're bound to make a lifelong enemy out of a future media mogul.

You need to believe more deeply than anyone else. You build a cult by showing everyone that you are willing to go further than all of them to see out your vision. You can't ask everyone else to swallow the Kool-Aid if you're not going to take the first gulp.

I was going to either fail or thrive, and I was going to do it in full view of everyone I respected and resented.

But if you've fought depression or know somebody who has, you know that no amount of money can fix it. No amount of fame. No logic. The continuing stigma around suicide and mental illness tells me that not enough people truly understand it. I don't really blame them---its impossible unless you've lived it.

This all raises the question of whether depression is something you can control by simply sucking it up. My answer is no, I don't think you can overcome it with willpower, but I do believe that dealing with depression is a choice that needs to be made. You have to choose to stand up every day and keep going. To reject your default settings.

Make it happen" is the standing order, and "Yes, chef" is the only response.