23 (Great) Life Quotes by Anthony Bourdain

Few people on the planet have lived the kind of globetrotting and adventure-filled life that chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain has. 

Anthony Bourdain in Israel

He is articulate, witty and has a way of showcasing the best of what the world has to offer with a very human approach.

I’m glad I stumbled on a piece that featured a list of his “23 Life Quotes“. Some are really good!

1) “Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t have.” 

2) “If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” 

Bourdain in JA

3) “Don’t lie about it. You made a mistake. Admit it and move on. Just don’t do it again. Ever” 

4) “What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?”

Anthony in Shanghai

5) “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. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” 

6) “You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”

7) “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” 

Bourdain in Brazil

8) “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.”

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

10) “Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.” 

11) “We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout parts.” 

Bourdain in Korea

12) “Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” 

13) “Luck is not a business model.” 

14) “There’s something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar – even in this fake-ass Irish pub.” 

15) “Under ‘Reasons for Leaving Last Job’, never give the real reason, unless it’s money or ambition.” 

In a state of bliss (?) with Peruvian Chocolate

16) “It’s very rarely a good career move to have a conscience.” 

17) “The way you make an omelet reveals your character.” 

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

Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam

19) “Good food and good eating are about risk.” 

20) “They’re professionals at this in Russia, so no matter how many Jell-O shots or Jager shooters you might have downed at college mixers, no matter how good a drinker you might think you are, don’t forget that the Russians – any Russian – can drink you under the table.” 

21) “If you look someone in the eye and call them a ‘fat, worthless, syphilitic puddle of badger crap’ it doesn’t mean you don’t like them. It can be – and often is – a term of endearment.” 

Anthony Bourdain in Libya

22) “Without new ideas success can become stale.” 

23) “But I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money.” 

I loved #3, #4, #12, #18 & #23

Which ones spoke to you?   Share in the comment section below!

-Jazz