"Copper boom!" "I just got the Jimmy Carter reference!" "Oy with the poodles already!" These quotes are some of the quickest ways to find Gilmore Girls fans out in the wild. When you say them, you elicit a very specific memory of Lorelai and Rory's hectic race to get Rory ready for Yale, Lorelai's laughing fit at Emily's house, and her impromptu creation of an instantly iconic catchphrase.
After seven amazing seasons (this isn't the time to talk about seasons 6 and 7, okay?) and a four-part Netflix revival series, Gilmore Girls has spawned amazing quotes from all of its characters. Thanks to the witty and sharp writing from creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and the writers, the series has provided us with some quippy comebacks and relatable bits of inspiration.
But which quotes are the ones we still can't get out of our heads 25 years later? (Yes, Gilmore Girls premiered on The WB 25 years ago! Time flies when you're talking fast.) Here's a collection of quotes from the show that live in our minds rent-free!
“As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible.” - Lorelai Gilmore
One of the reasons why Lorelai Gilmore is one of the best and most well-written characters of all time is that she knows who she is. Well, it's probably more accurate to say that she knows who she is not. Our girl is self-aware (for the most part), and she understands that she is particular and has high standards. Not just for herself but for those around her. She fires this ironic quote off casually during the basket exchange, but it can be applied to so many different parts of her story.
"Well, then buy me a boa and drive me to Reno because I am open for business." - Emily Gilmore
Picking a quote that's emblematic of Emily Gilmore's distinctly sardonic sense of humor is a difficult task. She has so many great ones! She's even more particular than her daughter, and bitingly so. While that's bad news for the people who are on the receiving end of her warpath, it's great news for us. Emily frequently produces some of the show's funniest lines, like this overly dramatic one about throwing caution to the wind. She's always good for a cheeky, sometimes dark one-liner!
"A little nervous breakdown can really work wonders for a girl." - Rory Gilmore
As much as Gilmore Girls fans like to rag on Rory for being privileged and annoying or whatever it is they say about her, she's honestly a mirror for much of the audience. Being so, we can often find a lot of relatability in her storylines, even if we wouldn't make the same decisions she does. She's just a girl going through life for the first time and figuring it all out as she goes. As this quote suggests, when she learns the power of breaking down, she usually comes out the other side feeling better.
"People can live for a hundred years without living a minute." - Logan Huntzberger
Sure, there are a fair amount of fans who do not like Logan, and the reasons are plentiful. That's not what this is about, though. As much as fans hate to give him credit, he really did help bring Rory out of her shell and revel in a more adventurous side of life. He hits her with this surprisingly deep quote before they jump off a platform together. It's one of the most memorable images from the entire series and the true beginning of their wild, reckless, and sometimes touching love story.
"It's all any of us wants, to find a nice person to hang out with until we drop dead. Not a lot to ask." - Lorelai Gilmore
Like Carrie Bradshaw, Lorelai Gilmore was someone who was looking for love and took chances while on that journey. Early on in the series, Lorelai was engaged to Max, rekindled her teenage romance with Christopher, and navigated a flirtationship with Luke. By the middle of the series, she's frustrated. She actually says this unforgettable quote to Luke in season 4, and she's speaking the truth in the way only Lorelai Gilmore can. Maybe we wouldn't phrase it like that, but she's right.
"Because I love you, you idiot!" - Rory Gilmore
Who could ever forget the way Rory told Dean that she loved him? By calling him an idiot. No comment on the accuracy of her statement. TV shows have always had that moment where two characters are trying to say "I love you" to each other. Maybe one character doesn't know how to react when the other does. Rory definitely didn't know! The culmination of their very frustrating early relationship brought us this line that's so very distinctly Gilmore Girls (and oddly quotable).
"Give me a burger, onion rings, and a list of people who killed their parents and got away with it. I need some heroes." - Lorelai Gilmore
Lorelai's conflict with Emily and Richard, both in the past and present, was one of the most consistent themes explored throughout the entire series and revival. She was constantly butting heads with her mother and adamant that she didn't want to be like her. Whether she was accidentally comparing her mother to dictators during magazine interviews or joking about parricide, some of Lorelai's quips to or about Emily are among the show's funniest, including this super specific Luke's order.
"It's a show?" "It's a lifestyle." "It's a religion." - Dean, Lorelai, and Rory
There's no way that the show's writers could have known when this line was written in season 1 episode 14 that it would become prophetic. Lorelai and Rory were simply answering Dean's question about The Donna Reed Show and expressing their fascination with the 1950s sitcom, but their descriptions of the show being a "lifestyle" and a "religion" was eventually actualized as fact for their own show, too. Twenty-five years later, Gilmore Girls is still a lifestyle and a religion.