The 20 most iconic and unforgettable rom-com quotes

Few movie quotes — rom-com or otherwise — are as good and memorable as when Billy Crystal says, “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Who can blame Meg Ryan for melting?

Everyone who’s involved themselves in the history of movies in one way or another knows the famous Notting Hill quote. Julia Roberts says to Hugh Grant, “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” Everybody needed Grant to acquiesce. 

There’s an endless amount of great quotes from The Notebook , including Ryan Gosling’s monologue at the end about how much work it’s going to take for him and Rachel McAdams to stay together. But there’s lots of beauty in the simple and iconic line, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.”

Matthew McFadyen walking through the field is so iconic that it’s almost enough to qualify as a quote. But it’s just as good when he actually speaks. “You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love you, I love you, I love you,” he said. What a line. 

Love Actually, understandably, is reserved for Christmas for most viewers, but many of its quotes can be appreciated year-round. “Love, actually, is all around,” for example, is one of the best rom-com quotes of all time. 

The best rom-coms are the ones set in Britain, starring Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, and written by Richard Curtis. Rom-com lines don’t get much better than the simple yet effective line: “I like you very much. Just as you are.”

Seriously, few people do rom-coms as well as Hugh Grant. He had people everywhere absolutely mad when he said, “The truth of it is, I’ve loved you from the first second I met you.” Four Weddings and a Funeral is an all-timer. 

It’s hard to imagine a world without the phrase “You complete me,” but such was the case before Jerry Maguire came along. That movie coined it, and now it’s as famous a movie quote as it is just a sentiment in life. 

There’s so much about Brokeback Mountain that was good and groundbreaking that it’s easy to forget about the good lines. But “I wish I knew how to quit you” is right up there with great rom-com lines. 

The Fault in Our Stars is so sad that it’s sometimes forgotten for its humor. But it’s absolutely a rom-com, and it’s absolutely got great lines like, “I fell in love with him the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

Though some of the developments in certain rom-coms aren’t actually how you’d want things to end up in real life, the quotes are still really, really good, like in My Best Friend’s Wedding. “If you love someone, you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise, the moment just … passes you by,” is a great example. 

Any rom-com featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and directed by Nora Ephron is bound to have some good lines, and You’ve Got Mail is proof of that. As is the line, “I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.”

The best line from The Big Sick, without a doubt, is: “Love isn’t easy. That’s why they call it love.” You don’t even have to see the movie to appreciate that sentiment. 

Bizarre in premise, great in execution, and legendary in history. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an all-time great film, thanks to lines like “I can’t see anything I don’t like about you.”

Basketball players like Love and Basketball for the athletics. Romantics like it for the love. Everyone likes it because of lines like: “I’ll play you.” “For what?” “Your heart.” How can anyone not swoon at that exchange?

Put James Marsden in everything. Everything. He’s so, so good, as evidenced by his delivery of the line “Love is patient, love is kind. Love means slowly losing your mind.” He was undoubtedly the best part of 27 Dresses. 

The line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” somehow requires all sorts of context, yet none at all. It’s one of the best movie quotes in rom-com history. 

While You Were Sleeping is an underrated rom-com, but its great line cannot go unrecognized: “I guess you might say he gave me the world.” What a beautiful line. 

There’s no use in honoring rom-coms for the lines they gave the world without mentioning Casablanca, one of the best to ever do it. The film is full of great lines, but as far as romance goes, “We’ll always have Paris” is right up there with the best. 

Another fantastic classic rom-com, Breakfast at Tiffany’s has iconic lines that will always deserve recognition. “People do fall in love. People do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness,” is a great example.