Eight Quotes from Anthony Bourdain That Will Change Your Perspective on Life Forever

“I’m not afraid to look like an idiot.”

Image Credit: Flickr via dackelprincess (Creative Commons)

Anthony Bourdain personally helped me through one of the most difficult times.

During the early days of the 2020 pandemic I felt lost, terrified, and unsure about the world. Nothing made sense anymore. How could this happen? I thought.

But when the world felt like it was going to end, my wife and I decided to binge-watch every episode of Anthony Bourdain’s various tv shows about food.

He saved my life.

Whenever I now think about Anthony Bourdain I get emotional.

What he did for me is a debt I can never repay. Initially, I thought his tv show was about food. Then I realized he used food as a way to subtly communicate practical philosophy. The food was a distraction.

Anthony’s philosophies will change your perspective on life forever.

“I’m not afraid to look like an idiot.”

Today I taught a class in online writing.

One student was terrified to share a toxic workplace story on LinkedIn that almost led him to suicide. His reason: “what if it makes me look bad?”

What got missed is that by him sharing his story on Linkedin he could of helped many others who were also contemplating taking their lives because of their work. Sure, he had personal risk. But the upside of saving lives by looking like an idiot hadn’t occurred to him.

When the group of us came to this realization we all felt emotional.

I had a tear in my eye.

Looking like an idiot is how you save the lives of people who can never say thank you to you. Because it’s so uncommon it makes you a rare diamond amongst an overflowing society full of scared sheep.

Don’t you dare refuse to look like an idiot ever again.

“Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one’s life.”

My wife doesn’t get why I love vanilla ice cream.

“It’s so boring. How can you?”

What she doesn’t get is there are many ways to access our memories. One key way is through food. Certain foods remind us of experiences or people we love.

My dad loves vanilla ice cream so when I eat it, it reminds me of him.

Anthony taught me that eating out should be an experience used to cement powerful memories into our brains for eternity.

There are many moments in life I’ve forgotten. But through food I often, randomly, remember them.

Now I’m consciously trying to do this more. Entire parts of my childhood are coming back to me because I’m eating foods and going to restaurants from back in those days.

Use food as a tool to access random memories.

“I don’t have to agree with you to like you or respect you.”

We’re at a strange point in human history.

When someone says something others don’t like, we cancel them. The term cancel culture is now a societal norm.

But it’s f*cking bullsh*t.

Disagreement is how ideas evolve and important issues eventually get resolved. Suddenly it feels as if society is afraid of opinions like they’re the boogie monster.

A great example is Joe Rogan. He says some wild stuff I strongly disagree with. He also says some stuff that I do agree with. And often he says things I’ve never heard before that expand my mind.

So sometimes I listen to Joe and other times I don’t.

But I don’t seek to have him removed from Spotify or erased from Youtube because his views don’t always match mine.

We don’t need more woke opinions from the establishment or dinosaur institutions. We need more unfiltered public discussions on the real issues so we can try to resolve them as a collective.

The banning of certain opinions is the real pandemic.

That’s why Substack and Web3 will change history forever. No more censorship. It’s an inevitable reality.

Speak your mind. The world needs it.

“Maybe that’s enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final resting place of the mind; no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom...is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”

This is deep Bourdain philosophy. You have to read the quote many times to get it.

I think I’m wise, but that’s not my ego talking. I believe this because I think I’m small and don’t matter much. I always love to turn the spotlight on other people. I still have a long way to go in life.

Many times I read things I wrote a year ago and laugh. My view of the world changes so rapidly that I feel like a different person every 52 weeks.

Once my daughter is born I suspect my view of self-improvement will completely change. I’ll have to find a new realistic version to worship. That’s okay.

If we’re not growing we’re dying, says Tony Robbins.

Dying doesn’t sound like fun, so remain small and keep growing.

We all know nothing so now you’re free.

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”

Travel is such a beautiful experience.

You realize how different humans are, and how strikingly similar we all are too. The key is to leave your mark everywhere you go. It’s why I write online.

Writing leaves a trail of breadcrumbs.

The best way to move through this world is to leave each place, experience or person better than you found them. It’s a life philosophy that’ll never steer you wrong.

"Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown."

Bourdain’s most popular tv show was called “Parts Unknown.”

The premise was quite rebellious. He only wanted to travel to places that travel tv shows refused to go.

He wanted to explore the rough side of life. The poor places average people choose to forget because it forces them to come face-to-face with uncomfortable realities they’d rather sweep under the carpet for someone else to deal with.

But it’s in the unknown places that feel uncomfortable where we break the patterns of the mind and have new breakthroughs. If life starts to feel boring, same-same, or frustrating, chances are everything around you is too well known.

What you need then is a lot of unknown.

I took this one tip from Anthony Bourdain to heart last year and quit my job. 9-5 cubicle life started to feel the same. Every day blended into the next.

I had no idea where I was heading or where I even bloody well wanted to go.

Now I live a daily life of discomfort. To survive I must do unpredictable things and trust strangers on the internet with my livelihood.

The upside is when you live more in the unknown you have fewer regrets.

Regrets are a boat anchor that weigh you down and produce invisible illnesses.

“In that sense, what a great way to live, if you could always do things that interest you, and do them with people who interest you.”

Many people follow whacko Jacko career paths.

Their parents shape their worldview too much. Or they overcompensate for safety and security. I’ve learned to follow interests. And with that, I’ve learned to follow people doing interesting things.

I often don’t know where these unlikely friendships will lead. But so far the outcomes are so unpredictable and spectacular that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Maybe you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Spend more time with interesting people and have zero agenda.

"[When I die], I will decidedly not be regretting missed opportunities for a good time. My regrets will be more along the lines of a sad list of people hurt, people let down, assets wasted, and advantages squandered."

The sad part about Anthony Bourdain is he took his own life.

I got to know him more after his death than while he lived. His tv show helped bring light to my life when lockdowns made the world dark.

Bourdain always believed in having a good time. I think deep down he knew he’d eventually end his life, and so, he lived as if each day he was granting himself one last crack at life.

One reason I love his work is he wasn’t a saint.

He hurt a few people. He didn’t always put all the privilege he got from his tv show to good use. He could have done more.

In his final few years, he even went a bit mad because of a woman he became obsessed with. It was hard to watch. The end of his life was anything but a fairytale.

The ultimate act of selfishness he committed robbed his daughter of a father, made his entire tv crew unemployed, and ended his powerful philosophical messages from reaching (sometimes) helpless people like me.

If I could speak to Anthony one last time I’d tell him, no matter the pain, there’s always hope. Don’t let one bad experience shape the rest of your life.

I, unfortunately, don’t get to hand-deliver that message to him. So I hope you, dear reader, can do something with it instead.

RIP Anthony Bourdain.

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