The 45 Best How I Met Your Mother Quotes To Live By

How I Met Your Mother will always be my favorite sitcom. 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion: whether you think Friends is a better TV show, or if you’re Team Yellow Umbrella, Blue French Horn, or Cupcakes, there’s no denying that HIMYM is on its way to becoming a modern classic. The episodes feature powerful yet realistic storylines that are bitter, sweet, and hilarious all at once. It’s a realistic depiction of New York City centered on a clever blend of humor, mystery, and romance, all while dealing with the issues that reality has to offer—ultimately, How I Met Your Mother reminds you of the silver linings of life. 

There are moments to laugh at, moments to cry about, and it’s a never-ending exploration of the common human spectrum of emotions. What makes the series so special is its ability to flesh out and humanize its set of characters to the point that there’s real character development. Not only is the show original, but the characters, albeit flawed, are likable, witty, and relatable. Neil Patrick Harris even received both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his legendary (see what we did there?) role as Barney Stinson—a persona that first started off to be absolutely despicable. How I Met Your Mother proves that hanging out at a coffee place is not nearly as much fun as hanging out at a bar. 

Having ended in 2014, the series has had its fair share of long-running inside jokes nuanced throughout the years, but also some sentimental scenes that left us gut-wrenched, yet hopeful of the brighter things to come. 

Here are 45 of the best life lessons we’ve learned from How I Met Your Mother.

1| “Everyone has an opinion on how long it takes to recover from a breakup.” — Ted Mosby

2| “That’s life, you know. We never end up where you thought you wanted to be.” — Marshall Eriksen

3| “Because sometimes even if you know how something’s gonna end, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the ride.” — Ted Mosby

4| “I realized that I’m searching, searching for what I really want in life. And you know what? I have absolutely no idea what that is.” — Barney Stinson

5| “You may think your only choices are to swallow your anger or throw it in someone’s face, but there’s a third option. Let it go.” — Ted Mosby

6| “You will be shocked, kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.” — Ted Mosby 

7| “Some couples always support each other, and some couples always challenge each other. But is one really better than the other? Yes. Support is better. Way better.” — Ted Mosby

8| “Every night can’t be legendary. If all nights are legendary, no nights are legendary.” — Ted Mosby

9| “Whatever you do in this life, it’s not legendary unless your friends are there to see it.” — Barney Stinson

10| “Sometimes, things have to fall apart to make way for better things” — Ted Mosby

11| "There are a lot of little reasons why the big things in our lives happen." — Ted Mosby

12| “If you’re not scared, you’re not taking a chance, and if you’re not taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing?” — Ted Mosby

13| “When you believe in people, people come through.” —Ted Mosby

14| “The future is scary, but you can’t just run back to the past because it’s familiar. Yes, it’s tempting, but it’s a mistake.” — Robin Scherbatsky

15| “You’ll love again someday, because time will heal a broken heart. But not that bitch’s window.” — Barney Stinson

16| “Say goodbye to all the times you felt lost, to all the times it was a No instead of a Yes, to all the scrapes and bruises, to all the heartache.” — Lily Aldrin

17| “Sometimes you fall for someone you didn't expect, but that doesn't make it wrong. Doesn't everyone deserve to be happy?" — Barney Stinson

18| “You can’t cling to the past. Because no matter how tightly you hold on, it’s already gone." — Ted Mosby

19| “I know it’s a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it’s a mistake, but you don’t really know it’s a mistake, because the only way to really know it’s a mistake is to make the mistake, and look back and say, ‘Yep, that was a mistake.’ So, really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you’d go your whole life not really knowing if something is a mistake or not.” — Lily Aldrin 

20| “Here’s the thing about mistakes: Sometimes, even when you know something’s a mistake, you gotta make it anyway. Even really really dumb mistakes.” — Ted Mosby

21| “Shouldn’t we hold out for the person who doesn’t just tolerate our little quirks but actually kinda likes them?” — Ted Mosby

22| “You can ask the universe for signs all you want but ultimately we'll only see what we want to see when we're ready to see it.” — Ted Mosby

23| "Nothing good happens after 2:00 a.m. when 2:00 a.m. rolls around, just go home and go to sleep." — Ted Mosby

24| "Because when baseball, strippers, and guns can't help, the only thing that can really heal a broken heart is time." — Ted Mosby

25| “Love doesn't make sense! You can't logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it or else we're lost and love is dead, and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do.” — Ted Mosby

26| “Look, Ted, guys regret the girls they didn’t sleep with. Girls regret the guys they do sleep with” — Stella Zinman

27| “If you keep giving up on people so quickly, you’re gonna miss out on something great.” — Robin Scherbatsky

28| “We struggle so hard to hold on to these things that we know are gonna disappear eventually. And that’s really noble.” — Lily Aldrin

29| “It’s only once you’ve stopped that you realize how hard it is to start again.” — Ted Mosby

30| “When I let a day go by without talking to you, that day is just no good.” — Barney Stinson

31| “The great moments of your life won’t necessarily be the things you do, they’ll also be the things that happen to you.” — Ted Mosby

32| “We’ll always be friends. It’s just never gonna be how it was. It can’t be. And that doesn’t have to be a sad thing.” — Lily Aldrin

33| “Sometimes our best decisions are the ones that don’t make sense at all.” —Ted Mosby

34| “I used to be in such a hurry all the time. Everything was so urgent. Now I figure, if it’s going to happen, it’ll happen when it happens. I’m not going anywhere; she’s not going anywhere. What’s the rush, right?” — Ted Mosby

35| “But that's the funny thing about destiny: it happens whether you plan it or not.” – Ted Mosby

36| “Of course, it’s one thing not to want something; it’s another to be told you can’t have it. I guess it’s just nice knowing that you could someday do it if you change your mind. But now, all of a sudden, that door is closed.” — Robin Scherbatsky

37| “Why am I constantly looking for reasons not to be happy?” — Robin Scherbatsky

38| “If you have chemistry, all you need is one other thing — timing. But timing’s a bitch.” — Robin Scherbatsky

39| “It’s funny, sometimes you walk into a place, you know you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.” — Ted Mosby

40| “Being in a couple is hard. And committing, making sacrifices — it’s hard. But if it’s the right person, it’s easy.” — Marshall Eriksen

41| “And that was when I realized why I hung out with Barney. I never got where I thought I wanted to go, but I always got a great story.” — Ted Mosby

42| “No, no! It’s a great idea. That’s the whole point of getting drunk, you do things you’d never do in a million years if you were sober.” — Barney Stinson

43| “Friends don’t let friends drink and dial.” — Lily Aldrin

44| “It was at times a long, difficult road. But I'm glad it was long and difficult, because if I hadn't gone through hell to get there, the lesson might not have been as clear.” — Ted Mosby

45| “Funny how sometimes you just find things.” — Tracy McConnell