Are just words, someone sang. Phrases, dialogues or monologues intended to be part of a fictional product. Yet, in some cases, they are much more than that. Such truthful and poetic reflections or observations that we would want them to be imprinted on our skin or taught in schools around the world. Here then is that many of the series quotes such as Lost, Scrubs o The Good Placehave ceased to be just words, assuming almost philosophical connotations that push our mind to fly high and that never stop teaching us some valuable life lessons. To celebrate these series we have chosen to bring you here some visceral quotes from the TV series that have moved something inside us and that we will never stop carrying with us. Get your handkerchiefs ready.
Warning: The following article may contain spoilers for The Good Place, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Good Place, Westworld and The Haunting of Hill House. Enjoy the reading!
L’onda (The Good Place)
“Imagine a wave on the ocean. You see it, you can measure its height, as the sunlight reflects off the crest. And it’s there, you see it, you know what it is. A wave, which finally breaks on the shore and is gone. But the water still exists. The wave was just one of several forms that water can take. This is death according to Buddhists: the wave that returns to the ocean from which it came and where it will remain forever”
Chidi Anagonye, The Good Place 4×13
There is very little we can add to the power of these poetic words Chidi addresses to Eleanor on the moving ending of The Good Place to try and explain to her the meaning of death. A sweet and comforting concept, capable of moving us and cradling us in a soothing awareness. Even just approaching the idea that death doesn’t necessarily have to be painted in the gloomy tones we’re used to is something shocking in itself and leads us to question ourselves about many other aspects of our lives.
Kelso’s Wisdom (Scrubs)
“The things that matter in life are never easy”
Bob Kelso, Scrubs 4×20
Who has not seen Scrubs perhaps he will dismiss this sentence as if it were a trivial, almost tautological sentence. Yet, anyone who has seen Scrubs knows exactly the context in which Dr. Kelso pronounces these words, in front of a woman who is terribly afraid of failing. Kelso knows this: know that life is scarybut knows that without effort nothing of value is achieved. Because those who really want to achieve something, to overcome a challenge or to transform their lives must understand that the first change must take place starting from oneself and that it must be ready to make sacrifices and efforts. Abandoning all kindness, but inspiring us with his relentless determination, Kelso gives us a valuable life lesson that adds up to the many pearls that Scrubs has handed down to us with its outstanding seasons.
The Abandonment of Logic (The Haunting of Hill House)
“Fear. Fear is the abandonment of logic. The voluntary abandonment of any rational scheme. But it seems to be the same with love. Love is the abandonment of logic. The voluntary abandonment of any rational scheme. Either we give in, or we fight it. We cannot find a middle ground. Without love in conditions of absolute reality we could not continue to exist for a long time in a healthy way.
Steven Crain, The Haunting 1×10
We are used to wanting to solve everything with logic, our rationality and our ingenuity, but as the eldest of the Crain brothers reminds us on the finale of the first season of The Hauntingthere are things that bypass the limits of logic to become one with our interiority: fear and love, love and fear. Feelings that have so much in common but that can lead to completely opposite outcomes: if we are alone and weak in fear, it is in love and bonds that we find ourselves and our sanityrelationships that can save us even from the darkest and most gloomy moments and also raise us from the deepest well as happened to the brothers who are the protagonists of the story.
A Heart of Steel (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
“A lesson without pain is meaningless, since nothing can be achieved without sacrifice. But when pain can be stopped and overcome, people get a strong heart that will never lose… A heart of steel.”
Edward Elric, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood episodio 64
Posted at the end of the anime and a faithful transposition of the last pages of the manga, this quote from Edward Elric, one of the best protagonists of all time, tells a truth that we will carry with us forever. A phrase that gives us great hope, the one according to which all the situations we go through, even the saddest and most painful ones, are fundamental stage for us to grow as individuals and to make us stronger. Welcoming pain, life’s challenges, mourning, separations, accepting them without being crushed by their weight and making them part of us. A lesson in sacrifice and acceptance that never ceases to surprise us with its poetic depth.
I legami (Grey’s Anatomy)
“Certain bonds defy distance, time and logic. because there are bonds that are just meant to be.”
Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy 5×08
There are people who come and go. Faces that we are destined to forget in the blink of an eye, voices that we will forget, smiles that will become increasingly blurred as time passes. But then, even just one day is enough and you meet a person you will never be able to forget; you bond with someone so strongly that you can no longer imagine your life without them. Ties that make long circles and then returnbecause even if you don’t believe in the universe, in destiny or in the ineluctability of fate, they are imprinted so deeply in our essence that they never leave us, challenging any kind of distancephysical or mental, always accompanying us and keeping us united with invisible threads.
The Divine Gift (Westworld)
” (talking about Michelangelo’s creation of Adam) The moment God gives men life and purpose. At least that’s what many say, but there may be another, deeper meaning; something hidden perhaps. A metaphor. Michelangelo told a lie. It took 500 years to notice a hidden thing in bright light. It was a doctor who noticed the shape of the human brain. The message is that the divine gift does not come from a higher power, but from our own mind”
Dr. Ford, Westworld 1×10
Despite the decline caused by the following seasons, the first narrative arc of Westworld remains a true jewel of contemporary seriality that has been able to lead the viewer to reflect on very interesting issues involving religion and morals. Great star performer of quotes was for example the Dr. Ford di Ser Anthony Hopkins, creator of the Park and author of its machines, creatures he perceives as children who need to free themselves from their chains. Reflecting with Dolores on issues such as divinity and humanity, Ford attributes to a fresco that has made the history of art a completely opposite meaning to the traditional one, reversing the historical roles attributed to God and to Man. This is how humanity and human reason are raised through a fascinating speech.
Blades of Grass (Tear along the edges)
“I thought there was something incredibly soothing about being a blade of grass. That didn’t make a difference to anyone. And there was no responsibility for all the evils in the world.”
Zerocalcare, Tearing along the edges 1×02
Tearing Along the Edges is a series that has torn us apart, leading us to shed all our tears and stare at the ceiling with thoughts ready to rehash every single choice in our lives. Despite the many reflections that have wounded us like a stab wound proposed by Zero limestonein few other situations have we felt so lightened by the load of our anxieties and fears as when we imagined being just some blades of grass in a meadow, just dots in the great fabric of the cosmos. Feeling small not to feel useless, but to be part of a continuous flow. Feeling carried by the wind not because what we are is not important, but to understand that after all, a mistake or a bad experience is not the end of the world and that, next to us, there are many other blades of grass that probably go through the same things every day that we are going through.
But let’s move on to Lost now.
Nobody dies alone (Lost)
“The most important part of your life is what you’ve spent with these people, that’s why you’re all here now… No one dies alone, Jack. You needed them and they needed you.”
Christian Shephard, Lost 6×18
We know that not everyone wears the ending of Lost in the heart but for those who do there is no escape: they will never forget the phrase that Jack’s father will pronounce in 6×18, summarizing the very meaning of all six seasons of the series. Our life has meaning only when we share it with someone: family, friends, loves… The people we have loved the most and with whom we have shared our story the most never leave us completely and think of being able to find them one day, at the end of everything, aware that everything we’ve been through has had its own importance, it’s not just comforting, it’s something immensely beautiful. Why Lost taught us that it is not true that “we live together, we die alone“, if you choose to rely on others and trust them. A precious lesson that we will never forget.
Goditi la corsa (How I Met Your Mother)
“Because sometimes, even if you know how it ends, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the ride.”
Ted Mosby, HIMYM 2×14
After Lost, here we come to talk about another “classic”.
We live in a society which, inevitably, bases its roots on efficiency, on meeting deadlines and completing objectives, because it is the results obtained, the facts, that count, just as when traveling it matters to arrive at a precise destination. And yet, with this sentence Ted Mosby not only invites us to relax, to sometimes let our hearts guide our steps, but, first of all, to enjoy the ride, the ride, even if you don’t even know where you’re going. All you need is to have the right company with you and a smile on your face, ready to be surprised by any situation fate may have put in our way.
The good old days (The Office)
“It would be nice to know that you are living in the good old days before they are gone forever”
Andy Bernard, The Office 9×25
I Passengers they wrote the song Let Her Go talking about this concept: the idea that we always realize too late truths that we should have understood right away. In the final of The Office, Andy Bernard’s character gives us his take on that reflection. How many times have we wished we had the chance to understand that we were having the best moments of our lives while we were still in it so that we could enjoy it even more? How many times have we complained about our present without even realizing that we were on top of the world? They are discourses that imply nostalgia and regret, mixing sweet memories with a shred of bitternessand that can’t help but make us travel back in time with the mind.