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John Peters, Wine Director, Culinaria Cooking School

COLUMN = WINE

John Peters is the director of wine at Culinaria Cooking School, which is scheduled to open its doors in the fall of 2010.

He has been in the wine business for nearly three decades. With his father and brother, John founded Wide World of Wines in 1982 and ran the retail business through 1989, hand selecting wines from vineyards all over the world. John then went to work for Continental Liquors until 1994, and from 1997 to 2003 he was the Mid-Atlantic marketing manager for DeLoach Vineyards.

John is frequently invited to speak about wine at the National Press Club, the Decanter Club, The Greenbrier, The Homestead, and the French and Australian Embassies in Washington, DC.

“John brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for the marriage of food and wine to Culinaria Cooking School,” say Culinaria Cooking School co-owners Stephen Sands and Pete Snaith.

Don’t follow your dreams. Chase them.”

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If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.”

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‎Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.”

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Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. 
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Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”

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The great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”

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Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

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Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’”

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My task is really not to change myself but to become familiar with who I am.”

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Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

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Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.”

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The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

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If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

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If you think you are too small to make a difference, try going to sleep with a mosquito in your room.”

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Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together.”

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What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

– Magical

Remember that it’s okay to ask for help when you’re stumped, because sometimes you really can’t be expected to handle everything alone.”

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An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.“


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Many people prefer to play it safe when it comes to business matters. Are you willing to take risks in the pursuit of entrepreneurial success?”

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Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

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Education is an admirable thing to have, but it is well to remember that nothing worth knowing can be taught.”

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Confidence is the most important thing you can teach someone… if you can teach them confidence, you don’t have to teach them anything else.”

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It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.”

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Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”

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You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn. If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.”

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That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.”

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The world I believed in, back in my most innocent, uninformed, childish mind—is real.”

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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

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Don’t wait for someone else to lead you to your right life; that privilege—and responsibility—is yours alone.”

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In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

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Letting go of expectations is a ticket to peace. It allows us to ride over every crisis—small or large—like a beach ball on water.”

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Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.”

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Your own words are the bricks and mortar
of the dreams you want to realize.
 The words you choose and their use establish the life you experience.”

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They who give have all things. They who withhold have nothing.”

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You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing.”

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Do not say, ‘why were the former days better than these,’ for it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”

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I don’t do very well without fear. There needs to be a part of me saying, ‘That’s going to fail,’ so I can prove myself wrong.”

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The awakening to the mystery of life is a revolutionary event; in it an old world is destroyed so that a new and better one may take its place.”

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Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow.”

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When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

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A person who learns to juggle six balls will be more skilled than the person who never tries to juggle more than three.”

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Instead of loving your enemies, treat your friends a little better.”

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The best reason to start an organization is to create a product or service to make the world a better place.”

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