Life as a professional cook isn’t easy, in fact — it’s damn hard. I take comfort in knowing the chefs that have trailblazed the way for the current generations have had to deal with the same challenges and struggles that we all do as professional cooks. Hopefully, next time the boss chews you out, the line gets crushed beyond belief on a Tuesday night, or your significant other grows frustrated with your career and the crazy hours — maybe you can turn to these quotes from some of these best. They’ve helped me on the rough days, while pushing me harder on the good days. I hope the same goes for you.When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about. ANKUR SINGH