“To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking, is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core.”

— Brad Bird

"Anton Ego" in Ratatouille (2007)
Context: In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new; an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking, is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto, "Anyone can cook". But I realize — only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more.

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American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occ… 1957

Stephen Rotluanga (1952)

Nude figures, Mizo bishop's tribute to God https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Nude-figures-Mizo-bishops-tribute-to-God/articleshow/4834560.cms?referral=PM (July 29, 2009)

“You have been allowing challenges to destroy you instead of you to destroy challenges. When challenges come – my God has the final say, not my ability or knowledge.”

T. B. Joshua (1963) Nigerian Christian leader

On handling challenges - "TB Joshua Lambasts Money-Hungry Pastors, Politicians" http://vibeghana.com/2015/01/20/t-b-joshua-lambasts-money-hungry-pastors-politicians/ Vibe Ghana (January 20 2015)

“I always thought when I got older that I'd be jealous of my children but I'm not. It's the opposite. I love seeing their possibilities. Nothing makes me as happy as sitting at dinner with loved ones, having a glass of wine with a meal that I've cooked. What could be better?”

John Banville (1945) Irish writer

John Banville: Who cares whodunnit? (2013)

“The weather and my mood have little connection. I have my foggy and my fine days within me; my prosperity or misfortune has little to do with the matter.”

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher

“The most irresistible compulsion for me is that of doubt. I have doubts about all, including my own doubtfulness. I believe little, and that not fully. Scepticism is for me not a "fine art" but an integral part of my existence.”

Karlheinz Deschner (1924–2014) German writer and activist

Am wenigsten widerstehen kann ich dem Zweifel. Ich bezweifle alles, selbst meinen Zweifel. Ich glaube wenig und auch das nicht ganz. Skepsis ist für mich keine der «schönen Künste », sondern Teil meiner Existenz. deschner.info http://www.deschner.info/de/person/zitate.htm

“I’m Cuban, so we grew up eating meat. But I didn’t like it. I’d say, ‘Rice and black beans is just fine with me.’ But my mother, you know, would say, ‘Tu estas muy flaca!’ Then one day I saw my dad kill a chicken and ever since then I was grossed out by chicken.”

Vida Guerra (1974) American model

"Nude Vida Guerra Ad Pulls the Caliente Card to Raise Money for PETA", Fox News (25 March 2011) http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2011/03/24/vide-guerra-gets-spicy-raise-money-peta.html

“It tells you how to boil water. What expression to wear when you are eating eggs. How to starve. When to eat. What your first meal should be. What your last meal should be. It says more about death than eating and more about living than cooking.”

Peter Greenaway (1942) British film director

Georgina and Richard
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

On his 75th birthday (1947), in reply to a question on whether he was afraid of death, quoted in the N. Y. Times Magazine on November 1, 1964, p. 40 according to Quote It Completely! (1998), Gerhart, Wm. S. Hein Publishing, p. 262 ISBN 1575884003
Post-war years (1945–1955)

“My challenge is really to say, 'Can you name me a moral action or a statement that has been made by a believer that couldn't have been made by a non-believer?”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

The Rise of Atheism, ABC News, 30 September 2007, 1 September 2015 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3671172, Alternate version: Name me an ethical statement made or an action performed by a believer that could not have been made or performed by a non-believer. 2007-11-01 Excerpt from The Portable Atheist USA Today 0161-7389 http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/excerpts/2007-11-01-portable-atheist_N.htm Hitchens posed this challenge many times in debate or during lectures, variously phrased, claiming no one had ever been able to pass it, although everyone could easily answer the corollary question: "Could you name a wicked action or a vile statement made by someone, attributable only to their religious faith?" Christopher Hitchens Moral Challenge to the god fearing religious folks, YouTube, 20 June 2009, 1 September 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqFwree7Kak, 2000s, 2007

“Ephemeral work made outside, for and about a day, lies at the core of my art and its making must be kept private.”

Andy Goldsworthy (1956) British sculptor and photographer

"Residency on Earth" in Art in America (April, 1995)

“To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking, is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core.”

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