Top 10 Outlander Quotes
#10 Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ
"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!"
The wonderful, quintessential Claire Beauchamp expression! This is a catchy phrase that so perfectly sums up Claire. She is irreverent and loud, happy when she's cursing and shocking her audience. She doesn't have any problem with being seen as "unfeminine" because of her smart mouth and choice of words. She has been through several wars, and this expression, picked up in WWII, works for her. Claire is constantly facing danger and looking death in the eye, dealing with frustrations and incompetence, and being consistently underestimated. No wonder her catchphrase is a curse. She is an independent, unique, strong woman with a sharp tongue, and we love her for that. This is one of the most recognizable and quoted lines in the whole series, and with good reason. It's colorful and interesting, and sticks in your mind, so it had to kick off the list!
#9 Always
"I will have you any way I can. Always." (1.16)
This is one of the most beautiful, intense scenes in the show, and one of the most beautiful, intense quotes. Jamie has been through utter hell at the hands of Black Jack Randall and is suffering in inconceivable ways. He can't even touch his wife, the woman he loves more than life. But Claire, undaunted, throws herself into the darkness with the man she loves. This couple is incredible in so many ways, but one of the biggest is because they are not afraid to do whatever it takes for the other person. They will fight and bleed, physically and emotionally, to help their partner. Claire does exactly that. In this beautiful speech, she shows how crazy everything is for both of them, but she knows that the love they have is the only explanation for why she's there. Their love pulled her through time itself, and she's not about to give that up. Jamie and Claire love each other with an eternal power that holds them together even when they feel like their falling apart. Claire's line, that she will have him any way she can, always, is a thesis for their relationship. They are willing to do whatever it takes to be together because they know that it is a love worth fighting for. Neither of them give up, on life or on each other, and that is what makes this scene, and this line, so moving and strong.
#8 That Amount of Time Does Not Exist
Frank: "Might you have forgotten him, with time?"
Claire: "That amount of time does not exist." (3.03)
This scene is so intense and these lines are so perfect! Claire has lived a life she really didn't want for decades. They have hurt and betrayed each other and dissolved any of the love they had at the beginning of their marriage. All that tension and trauma boils over in tense fights, and this one is a crown jewel of coldness. If Claire and Jamie's fights are fire, then Claire and Frank's are ice. Obviously it's been hard for Claire to see how much Bree looks like Jamie, to be constantly reminded of the man she lost. Frank, too, knows that Bree looks like the man who took his wife. Frank offers this final plea, reaching out for some scrap of what he and Claire once had. He's really asking her if things had been different, if she might have been able to love him again. And Claire spits back the hard truth. What she feels for Jamie is truly eternal, that nothing and no one could make her forget her true, great love.
#7 Bear It Together
"The weight of what has happened here is too much for any one of us to bear alone. The only way we can live with it is to carry it together." (2.07)
Faith is one of the most heartbreaking episodes in a show that delivers sob-inducing material all the time. Caitriona's acting is absolutely sensational, and Sam is also incredible in this last scene. Claire has gone numb; she looks like a statue, steeling herself against the pain of what she's been through. She's feeling the anger and resentment toward Jamie for not being there. Obviously he would have done anything to have been there for her through all her suffering, but she is still scarred from the loss, and having to go through it alone. Jamie's heartbreak in this scene is palpable, and when he sinks to his knees before his wife, it is such a powerful moment. He delivers a perfect line, that they have to bear their pain together. So often, when couples face massive tragedies like the loss of a child, they either lean in and become stronger, or they are snapped apart. Jamie pleas for Claire to reach out to him, to meet him and be stronger together. She does, and that is why Jamie and Claire are such an incredible couple. They can be beaten and battered, but no matter what, they face everything together.
#6 Home
"Take me home to Lallybroch." (1.11)
This is a very quoted line in the Outlander world, and it's easy to see why. This is one of the most beautiful, romantic lines in the series because there is so much meaning behind it. Obviously it's a powerful moment between Jamie and Claire, but it starts all the way back at the beginning of the show. Claire, as she looks at that blue vase in the store window, is longing for a place to belong. She was raised bouncing around the world with her uncle, then there was the war. Claire has never had a place to call her own. So as she has to make the choice to go back to the twentieth century or to stay with Jamie, she is picking where she wants to make her home. And she chooses the man who is everything to her, and all the troubles and joys that come with it. That shot of Jamie with the glistening tear on his cheek is so precious; he loves her so much and has just torn himself apart to let her go. But, true to the old adage "if you love something let it go," Claire does come back to him. And she says to take her home. That is what they both are searching for, as Jamie says when he tells her that the ring is from the key to Lallybroch. They are each other's home, and they belong with each other. Lallybroch is the eternal symbol of what their marriage means to them, of their unbreakable bond, and their true, lasting union. Their marriage was sealed with the key, showing that as they unlock the door, as they make it their home, they open up themselves to the other person. It's no accident that their first "I love you" is at Lallybroch, and it all comes back to this moment. Jamie made clear in the Reckoning that Claire is his home; in this moment, Claire says the same of Jamie, and of the place that means the most to him.
#5 Heart and Soul
"Ye are my flesh and blood. And since ye returned to me, I'm finding ye're my heart and soul as well." (4.09)
This scene is so beautiful and such a long-awaited moment. Jamie gave up his wife and child to protect them, and he has lived twenty years without them. Even after Claire comes back, he truly believes he will never get to meet his daughter. But he does (another fantastic moment). But this moment is where we truly get to see their connection deepen. They look so alike in this scene, and they have the same, straightforward honesty. Forging those kind of relationships is incredibly difficult -- anyone from any sort of blended or unconventional family can probably relate; I know I can -- but Bree and Jamie find common ground. Jamie loved her enough to give her up, and he is understanding of her feelings of loyalty to the man who raised her. Jamie is caring and careful with the daughter he has dreamt of for decades. And this incredible line sums it all up perfectly. Family is about blood, yes, but it's about love. Bree has been incredibly loved by three people her whole life, and she finally gets to know the man who loved her enough to sacrifice his own happiness for her sake. It's a soft, loving moment that brings together two characters who have so much in common, a Da and his Bree.
#4 It’s Still There
Claire: "A long time ago you asked me what it was between us."
Jamie: "I remember. What it is when I touch you and you lie with me."
Claire: "I said I didn't know."
Jamie: "I didna ken either."
Claire: "I still don't."
Jamie: "Well, it's still there."
(3.06)
The reunion is one of the most anticipated and beautiful moments in the show. Picking just one quote from it was difficult, but this one stood out to me for so many reasons. It connects to their past, as they discovered each other and first fell in love. It reminds us of that magic and depth of feeling that marked them from the first as special. They are so connected, so powerfully entwined, that it is truly magic. There is something in them, the mingling of souls, that makes their love so unique. Then, at their reunion, as they fall in love all over again, they feel that fire rekindled. Both Jamie and Claire have felt so dead for twenty years, having torn themselves in two and existed as shadows since. But when they are back together, they feel whole once more. It is the magic of their love, and the incredible, sexual magic, that is woven so inextricably into the fabric of their relationship. Neither Jamie nor Claire know exactly what or why, but they simply throw themselves into it and are consumed. After all the uncertainty and apprehension, they know that what they had is still there, existing between them, and the reassure each other of that, in words and in deeds.
#3 Last Words
"When the day shall come that we do part, if my last words are not 'I love you,' ye ken it was because I didna have time." (5.12)
This is an emotional, intense episode, and one of the most incredible in showing the depth and strength of Jamie and Claire's relationship. Claire has been through hell, and Jamie is the one thing she held onto to really get her through. Looking at them as they stand together, Claire bruised and battered, it is so bittersweet. Seeing them struggle and suffer is difficult, but their unconditional love and enduring support is highlighted in these most troubled situations. Claire's soft, simple "I love you" is absolutely perfect. She doesn't have the strength for more than that, and Jamie doesn't need more. But, true to form, Jamie delivers an incredible, romantic, and reassuring line. Jamie and Claire have faced horrors and death and separation over and over again, but it is always their love that brings them back together. The other person is their first thought in the morning and last thought at night. And here, Jamie vocalizes what we all know, that on his dying day, his last thought will be of his beloved wife. It is a perfect Jamie and Claire line. Their love protects and redeems them, and is always with them, in life and death, when their partner is by their side or far away. It is their safety and security, and this line by Jamie sums that up perfectly.
#2 Possess Your Soul
"Aye Sassenach, I am your master, and you are mine. It seems I canna possess your soul without losing my own." (1.09)
This is one of the best, most beautiful, and deeply romantic quotes in the series. Jamie and Claire have been through a very difficult early marriage. Forced together, they found an intimacy they didn't even know was possible. But under the burden of their different ideals and beliefs, they've shown the cracks of that strain. But Jamie reaches out; he decides that Claire's security and happiness is worth more to him than tradition or his pride. He is willing to humble himself, and even to give her up, if that's what she needs. But Claire does want him, and the balance of power in their relationship is restored. Jamie and Claire have a beautiful way of negotiating their relationship through sex, and it works wonders for them. They use traditional gender roles when it suits them and throw them off when that's better. And in this scene, Jamie vocalizes the incredible power of their relationship, that in order to completely have her, he must give himself wholly over to her. Every moment is giving totally and gaining completely, being filled and emptied in same breath as they breathe together. Relationships are a kind of possession, and that possession can be beautiful, sexy, and healthy, when it is equal and loving, as it is here. It is so telling that in this moment, Jamie talks of their souls. As they bring their bodies together, their hearts and spirits join. They are such an incredible, aspirational couple because they have nothing to hide, nothing to fear, with each other, and that is so perfectly stated in this quote.
#1 Wedding Vow
"Ye are blood of my blood and bone of my bone,
I give ye my body that we two may be one.
I give ye my spirit til our life shall be done." (1.07)
The wedding vow between Jamie and Claire so perfectly encapsulates the depth and love of their relationship. Outlander is incredible because of this central romance, and these are the words that first truly bound them together. This series leans into the more mystical, inexplicable elements of our world, and Jamie and Claire's vow is one of those magical moments. They take a blood vow that binds them, body and soul, to each other. For the rest of their lives, they loom back on this moment as their turning point, and rightfully so. It takes all of their uncertainty and forges intimacy from it. These words mean so much to both of them; even when Claire doesn't understand what she's saying, she knows the gravity. And when Jamie does tell her what it meant, it reignites the sparks between them yet again. These vows are some of the most iconic and, arguably, the most pivotal lines in the series. As Jamie and Claire pledge themselves to each other through words and deeds, blood and body, they become one, forever. Their wedding shows the gravity of the vow they've taken, and the power they have over each other. It is one of the most romantic and permeating lines of the series, and in fiction as a whole. These two exemplify the values of love and unity in this vow, and give us all something great to watch, adore, and aspire to.