Ted Lasso Quote You Need to Live By: Game-Changing Advice for Everyday Life
Apple TV's original series, Ted Lasso, has not only become one of TV's favorite comedy sports dramas, but also a treasure trove of inspirational quotes and moments.
Already the series has introduced a number of witty motivational one-liners; my personal favorite being, "If God would have wanted games to end in a tie, she wouldn't have invented numbers".
Yet one quote, in particular, remains especially poignant from the series. And it's advice that everyone should follow in life.
"Be curious, not judgmental"
The quote in question comes from episode 8 of season 1, 'Diamond Dogs'. During a scene where Ted is negotiating over the club's ownership, he challenges Rupert to a wager over a game of darts.
Ted wins the game easily humiliating Rupert in the process.
However, as a coach, Ted does not decide to leave things there. Always willing to share his words of wisdom when he gets the opportunity, he tells a story of how he has been ridiculed his entire life.
However, after seeing an inspirational quote, "be curious, not judgmental" (he claims by Walt Whitman), he realized they were merely being judgmental and therefore underestimated him.
Ted then points out Rupert's mistake, telling him if he had been less arrogant and asked him if he played a lot of darts, he would have told him he did every Sunday at a sports bar with his father from age 10 to 16.
The meaning behind the quote
True to the show's sense of humor, the quote ironically is not actually by Whitman at all. However, the importance of the quote's message is by no means any less significant.
It delivers a memorable insight into Ted's character within the series. But this pearl of wisdom provides a significant life lesson we can all learn from.
It has been estimated that each of us makes 35,000 judgments a day. Internal decisions on everything from what we want to eat, and who we want to talk to, to what is safe or dangerous.
And although these judgments are often essential in life when more information is not immediately available, it can become a habit that is much more harmful than good.
People who are quick to judge others often miss important information and end up misinterpreting people's true intentions or abilities.
Always seeking to learn more where possible, and not jumping to conclusions will serve you much better in life than arrogantly assuming your own judgment always knows best.
As Ted Lasso proved, when you are simply curious to learn more every day instead of limiting yourself to only what you think you know…. Remarkable things can surely happen.