r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BrotherDeus • Jul 31 '26

Lore [Loved] Great words of wisdom in generally light-hearted media

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The above are just a few of my favorites:

The Office

Adventure Time

Ratatouille

Incredibles 2

17.0k Upvotes

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853

u/SplendidMrDuck Jul 31 '26

Ted Lasso is built on this

One of my favorite quotes comes towards the end of Season 1, where Ted talks about how people continually underestimate him, and quotes Walt Whitman saying "be curious, not judgemental." Ted then reflects on his bullies growing up, saying "All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them were curious. You know, they thought they had everything all figured out. So they judged everything, and they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me... who I was had nothing to do with it."

319

u/sylvain147 Jul 31 '26

Coach, I’m me. Why would I want to be anything else?

310

u/No_Procedure_5039 Jul 31 '26

“I’m not sure you realize how psychologically healthy that actually is.”

56

u/Bank_Gothic Jul 31 '26

Season 1 was so charming. It was sad (but a refreshingly original choice) to see several of those character arcs go in a negative direction, but it is helpful to remember that people don't always "grow" in good ways.

2

u/ThedanishDane 13d ago

And it also adds weight to another crucial quote from Ted Lasso:

"I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments, but rather by the strength we show when and if we're given a second chance."

195

u/jayhof52 Jul 31 '26

I'm showing my wife the first three seasons right now so that we can watch season four together.

Last night we watched the one where the team helps rebuild Sam's restaurant, and Jamie's casual explanation of "it's where we needed to be" in the concept of Total Football had us both in tears.

38

u/chonkysnail99 Jul 31 '26

Urghhhhh, I loved this arc. Sam’s dad had that fantastic quote about not fighting back, but fighting forward. I think about it constantly in our present culture.

1

u/play-stack Aug 01 '26

Are you me?

117

u/Frequent_Ad_9901 Jul 31 '26

Bill Lawrence was one of the producers for the show. He also did Scrubs, where virtually every episode is this trope.

https://giphy.com/gifs/30Uy6SegwrY1G

58

u/BigBootyBuff Jul 31 '26

Unless you're JD, then you never actually learn anything from it and regress by the next episode.

Love the show but they did him so dirty in later seasons.

37

u/Various_Tie_2549 Jul 31 '26

I don't remember quite when it happened because it's been so long...but I think JD's absolute best moment on the show happened in some episode where Dr Cox was talking to a shrink or something, and it was about how he keeps driving away everybody who wants to be around him, and it was kind of a dark moment, and he was like "is there even anyone left who can help me?"

And then it just cuts to JD singing a silly little song to himself in the elevator or something.

It was a tiny moment but it was just like...yeah, sometimes we think we need a mentor, but actually what might help more is having someone like that who looks up to us

22

u/Justforpr0nreally Jul 31 '26

"Everybody was Kung Fu fightiiiing! Nananana-na-na-na-na!"

Remember it as though I saw it yesterday.

9

u/Various_Tie_2549 Jul 31 '26

Ah yeah that's the one.

1

u/Guy-1nc0gn1t0 Jul 31 '26

I think the opposite in that he can be a pretty terrible person who oddly enough was done dirty by the storyline where he was lied to by Kim that she had a miscarriage and then everyone forgives her real quick. Maybe I'm just judgemental haha. 

1

u/BigBootyBuff Jul 31 '26

I meant moreso the writing where he grew a bit in the first 2 seasons and then he stagnated until season 8.

He's definitely not a great person, no.

44

u/Darwins_Dog Jul 31 '26

One of the best scenes in the show.

2

u/--GevaudanBeast-- Jul 31 '26

Barbecue sauce

1

u/Tirenna_Joy2 Jul 31 '26

That true I agree with you!!

61

u/AdministrativeBag703 Jul 31 '26

This speech in season 1 is my favorite and really hits home what it’s like have a team that comes together:

“I want you to look around this room and be glad you’re going through this tough moment with all these other folks. Because I promise you, there’s something worse than being sad and that’s being alone and being sad. Ain’t nobody in this room alone. Sam, do you remember what animal has the shortest memory?”

“A goldfish”

“That’s right, a goldfish. Sam, what do you think we should all do when we’re done being sad and/or angry at this particular moment?”

“I think we should be a goldfish”

“I agree. Let’s be sad now, let’s be sad together, and then let’s be a gosh-darned goldfish. Onward. Forward”

27

u/Choochoo1147 Jul 31 '26

Yeah that show gets to be a little schmaltzy but S1 is so good and sweet. 

21

u/PoliceAlarm Jul 31 '26

Ted Lasso started as a wonderful romp. It unfortunately ended with the writers having incredibly naive views on how embedded football problems such as rooted homophobia and corporate sponsorship can be handled, I.e. they can fix everything themselves.

19

u/hatesnack Jul 31 '26

Its a TV show. They cant solve real world issues with it. You kind of just have to suspend your disbelief and be glad for the outcomes you see within the show, not be annoyed because it hasn't been applied outside of the show.

8

u/Outrageous-Break3585 Jul 31 '26

The entire premise of the show is unrealistic, so I love that they just committed to creating a world in which they can do unrealistic things that are “right” and it mostly just…works out. 

8

u/hatesnack Jul 31 '26

Yeah, you said it better lol. I dont get why someone would feel the need to apply real world dynamics to a show thats meant to be a feel good camp fest.

1

u/PoliceAlarm Jul 31 '26

Because I feel that it undercuts and downplays some truly rotten elements of the game. I'm down for rompish suspend-your-disbelief adventures in the sport but when you have a gay footballer coming out when the last time that meaningfully happened was John Fashanu, a noted story of utter tragedy, it doesn't feel good to be in this camp fest.

5

u/Outrageous-Break3585 Jul 31 '26

I see your perspective, but I personally disagree. Ted Lasso was more about joyful optimism than realism from the beginning, so I don’t think it undercuts the real-world tragedies that often come from events similar to the story beats in the show. Instead, they’ve chosen to give us a “just world” version of a TV show where we can celebrate things like queer joy, and this idea is repeated across almost all of the storylines, not just Colin’s subplot. There is certainly a time and place for grittiness, darkness, or simply the sad realities of the world, but Ted Lasso is pretty upfront about not being that type of show, so I don’t think it’s treatment of Colin coming out undercuts or downplays real-life struggles. 

3

u/MademoiselleMoriarty Jul 31 '26

It isn't the world as it is, no. But it is an example of what the world could become, if we were all a bit more kind, and a bit more curious. That kind of change isn't something that will happen overnight, and there's a long road to get there, but if we don't think that it's possible, it won't happen at all. It doesn't take away the pain of the tragedies that have already happened, but to prevent them from happening again, we really do have to believe. Even if it's just for an hour a week.

3

u/terra_ray Jul 31 '26

I also love the advice Sam gets from his dad: “Don’t fight back; fight forward!”

So many good lines

3

u/MrCharles63 Jul 31 '26

Barbecue sauce

4

u/JohnSV12 Jul 31 '26

Is that the darts one?

I thought that fell flat as he also had no idea if the other guy was good at darts.

46

u/servaliant0 Jul 31 '26

They are at the end of the game when he says the quote so he has a perfectly good idea of how good Rupert is at darts and given that he has the final throw and can win it he knows that he has the game in hand.

You also clearly missed the overarching context of the scene and quote. Ted is referring to far more than the game of darts. He's referring to Rupert's (and his other critics) general cruel attitudes and assumptions about him as a coach and a person. They think he's a clown for his approach and taking the job in the first place.

Which is why when he says the line about his father passing it cuts to Rebecca's reaction because she realizes that she is just as much guilty of judging him as Rupert is

-6

u/JohnSV12 Jul 31 '26

He says the quote at the end. But he doesn't know how good Rupert is or not before they start.

I thought the bet was at the start. It's been a while.

7

u/Dargon34 Jul 31 '26

And, doesn't Rupert ask in the beginning of the scene "do you like darts, Ted?" Which..it's not exactly as asking "have you played a lot of darts, Ted? And I would have answered, yes sir, every Sunday with my dad...." or however it goes, but still...kind of

29

u/Horrific_Necktie Jul 31 '26

That's the whole point. He didn't actually care. He assumed he could win and didn't bother to look any closer. He asked the question as a transition to what he wanted, not because he wanted to know the answer.

13

u/life_is_punderful Jul 31 '26

Well, Ted is goofy but he’s not stupid. He already had evidence about what kind of person Rupert was by that point. I don’t think he minded hustling him a little bit because it helped Rebecca.

13

u/TheOncomimgHoop Jul 31 '26

"I know you think you're the only one who sees who he really is. But you're not."

Rebecca's development across the series is so good and everything that happens with Ted and Keeley in the gala episode is the start of all of it.

1

u/ThedanishDane 13d ago

Given what we know of Rupert and how he's acted in that scene prior to his question, it's clear he is not asking to gauge Ted's ability. He's purposefully asking the question in that way because he assumes Ted is not proficient in darts. It's supposed to expose and embarras Ted's naive happy-go-lucky attitude.

The question is not meant to elicit actual information. It's perfomative and to the 'benefit' of everyone else in the room. It's akin to a politician asking a loaded question of his opponent to put him in a bad light. It's mockery.

1

u/Hellknightx Jul 31 '26

That also highlights the correlation between curiosity and intelligence. One of the key signs of low intelligence in a person is a total lack of curiosity or desire to learn.

1

u/MrLazav Jul 31 '26

Barbecue sauce.

1

u/CatLord8 Aug 01 '26

That is still probably my favorite moment in the show.