I was a mixture of being incredibly old for my age and incredibly backwards. I was born quite old but then I stopped growing. I lived with my mum and dad till I was 30.

We live in an age where anonymity is growing in magnitude like a bomb going off.

What could be more beautiful than a dear old lady growing wise with age? Every age can be enchanting provided you live within it.

My inspiration was my mom. She's a great cook and she still cooks and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.

Why do people talk of the horrors of old age? It's great. I feel like a fine old car with the parts gradually wearing out but I'm not complaining ... Those who find growing old terrible are people who haven't done what they wanted with their lives.

My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome failure is not trying. Don't be afraid to fail.

At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.

The trick is growing up without growing old.

Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy person has no time to form.

A man growing old becomes a child again.