Enduringly popular and beloved by multiple generations, The Simpsons is famous for its unique sense of comedy, especially in its early "golden era," typically considered to be the first 10 seasons or so. Premiering in 1989, the series is still running today with 35 seasons and over 700 episodes to its name. It explores various aspects of dysfunctional family life and pop culture satire through a unique brand of subversive humor.
Although its iconic animation style has led to countless great visual gags over the years, The Simpsons is best known for its clever and witty dialogue. With hundreds of hilarious lines from the show's eclectic cast of characters to choose from, it's hard to narrow down which are the best. However, these quotes have achieved a life of their own, becoming synonymous with The Simpsons as a whole.
The satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.
- Cast
- Tress MacNeille, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden, Nancy Cartwright, Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith
- Seasons
- 36
10 "Way to breathe, no breath."
"Bart Sells His Soul" - Season 7, Episode 4 (1995)
In one of The Simpsons' most popular episodes, Bart sells Milhouse his soul in exchange for $5 to prove that they don't exist, only to discover he has made a grave mistake. One crucial scene indicating that Bart may truly have lost his soul occurs when Jimbo and his friends are playing around in the Kwik-E-Mart, fogging up the glass of the ice cream fridge and writing 'bite me' in the hopes that "some ice cream guy's gonna see that and it'll blow his mind."
Bart finds himself utterly incapable of doing the same, causing Jimbo to taunt him with the bizarre and incredibly funny insult "way to breathe, no breath." The quote is absurd and memorable because of the extremely casual way Jimbo is reacting to Bart's supernatural experience, showing that he truly prioritizes his playground bullying tactics over all else. It's also a silly way to tease Bart, whose recklessness leads him to an extraordinary and terrible situation.
9 "I call the big one Bitey."
"Marge vs. the Monorail" - Season 4, Episode 12 (1993)
"Marge vs. the Monorail" focuses on Marge's skepticism when a fast-talking salesman (Phil Hartman) comes to Springfield to pitch the idea of investing in a monorail, which only Marge realizes is a dangerous con. The episode is a perfect example of the show's golden era, filled to the brim with great jokes and featuring a fantastic music number in "The Monorail Song."
One of the episode's most memorable moments comes when Marge inspects the monorail Homer intends to conduct and discovers a family of possums living inside it. Instead of being concerned about the lack of maintenance, Homer simply explains "I call the big one Bitey", showcasing his complete naïvety in the face of danger. The quote is great on multiple levels, implying that not only has Homer totally made peace with the infestation (even after seemingly being bitten by one), but that he has actually befriended the possums. It's another example of the show's witty and irreverent humor, effortlessly blending charm and hilarity.
8 "He thinks he's the pope of Chili Town."
"El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)" - Season 8, Episode 9 (1997)
When Marge and Homer attend Springfield's annual chili cook-off, their marriage is placed under great strain by his outlandish conduct. Despite promising to be on his best behavior, Homer experiences a psychedelic trip after eating an intensely spicy pepper in Chief Wiggum's chili and ends up communicating with a mystical coyote voiced by legendary country singer Johnny Cash.
Due to Homer's incredible spice tolerance, he approaches the chili cook-off taste tests like an anti-hero from a Western movie, inspiring fear in the various vendors. Insisting that Homer "thinks he's the pope of chili town," Chief Wiggum deliberately tries to overwhelm him with the heat of the peppers in order to damage his ego. The episode, and this quote in particular, showcase Homer's trademark gluttony in a hilarious and memorable way, with the idea of a "pope of chili town" being a wonderfully absurd mental image. The usage of the word "pop" is especially funny, as it's such a random choice that it makes the whole thing even more ridiculous—and far funnier, too.
7 "It's bringing love, don't let it get away!" "Break its legs!"
"The Springfield Files" - Season 8, Episode 10 (1997)
One of The Simpsons' best parody episodes, season 8's "The Springfield Files," is a riff on the classic sci-fi horror procedural The X-Files. It guest stars the show's leads, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, as Scully and Mulder as they investigate mysterious sightings of a glowing creature in the woods. At the episode's climax, the seemingly gentle and benign creature emerges from the trees proclaiming, "I bring you love!" to the townspeople, leading to an iconic exchange.
In typical angry mob fashion, the citizens completely ignore the peaceful message, with Lenny announcing, "It's bringing love, don't let it get away!" and Carl adding the even more violent, "Break its legs!". The joke is absurd and hilarious, highlighting one of the show's most memorable running gags of how quickly the town can be whipped up into a bloodthirsty frenzy over nothing at all. It's especially funny considering the creature is spelling its peaceful message to them, only for the town to completely ignore it and take the opposite route.
6 "No TV and no beer make Homer something something..."
"Treehouse of Horror V" - Season 6, Episode 6 (1994)
Some of the most beloved Simpsons episodes are the iconic Halloween Treehouse of Horror anthology hours. One of the funniest segments is "The Shinning" from 1994's "Treehouse of Horror V"—a take on Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. In a direct parody of the original's famous line, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Homer scrawls his version all over the walls, resulting in an incredibly memorable exchange with Marge.
When Homer asks Marge to finish his sentence by saying, "No TV and no beer make Homer something something..." she worriedly replies, "Go crazy?" to which he exclaims, "Don't mind if I do!" and begins to make absurd sounds and gestures. This moment is extremely quotable in its own right and a great reference to an iconic work of pop culture, with the joke of Homer essentially workshopping the slogan of his mental breakdown being delightfully ridiculous. Homer's notoriously lazy attitude can't even bother to finish the sentence, even when suffering a breakdown, making the punchline even more hilarious.
5 "Stupid sexy Flanders."
"Little Big Mom" - Season 11, Episode 10 (2000)
In "Little Big Mom," the Simpsons go on a ski trip. Early in the episode, Homer encounters Ned Flanders on the ski slope and is horrified to discover how incredibly form-fitting Flanders' ski outfit is. Proudly showing off his body, Flanders insists that the outfit "feels like I'm wearing nothing at all!" which overrides Homer's memory of his ski instructor's advice, causing him to curse, "Stupid sexy Flanders!" before promptly crashing.
This moment is incredibly memorable, being heavily referenced in memes on the internet and even leading to the creation of Stupid Sexy Flanders figurines. Homer's love-hate relationship and neighborhood rivalry with Flanders is a defining trait of his character, making his begrudging admiration of his physique subversively hilarious. Additionally, the idea of the good-natured and devoutly Christian Flanders being secretly in incredible shape is just inherently very funny.
4 "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords."
"Deep Space Homer" - Season 5, Episode 15 (1994)
When NASA decides to send an average blue-collar worker on a space expedition, Homer is sent on the mission accompanied by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin (playing himself). In typically clumsy fashion, Homer spills potato chips everywhere in the zero gravity environment as well as smashing the spacecraft's ant farm. Broadcasting images from the mission, Kent Brockman mistakenly announces that the spacecraft has been conquered "by a master race of giant space ants."
Brockman then goes on to declare that "one thing is for certain: there is no stopping them. The ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords" and pledges to assist the ants in enslaving humanity. Brockman's immediate embrace of an alien invasion on live television is ridiculous and incredibly funny, made even better by how deeply incorrect he is. The line "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords" has become an internet meme due to its quotability, making it one of the most commonly referenced Simpsons jokes.
3 "You don't win friends with salad!"
"Lisa the Vegetarian" - Season 7, Episode 5 (1995)
After visiting a petting zoo and meeting an adorable lamb, Lisa vows to become a vegetarian. However, until a meeting with Paul and Linda McCartney empowers Lisa to feel confident in her ethics, she struggles to justify her dietary choice to the people around her. In one iconic scene when Homer and Lisa are arguing about her vegetarian diet, he exclaims, "You don't win friends with salad!" which Bart promptly turns into a rhythmic chant.
Homer and Bart then begin a "You don't win friends with salad!" conga line, which Marge joins, insisting that she simply "got caught up in the rhythm" and isn't choosing sides. The line perfectly exemplifies the crucial differences between Homer's and Lisa's worldviews, with him attempting to undermine her genuine ethical choice with the insistence that vegetarianism will be seen as uncool by others. The episode is a vital point of character development for Lisa, and the conga chant is incredibly memorable and catchy.
2 "This lesbian bar doesn't have a fire exit! Enjoy your death trap, ladies!"
"Fear of Flying" - Season 6, Episode 11 (1994)
Kicked out of Moe's for pulling a prank, Homer searches for a new bar to patronize, trying the bar from Cheers and a lesbian bar before settling on an airport bar and being mistaken for a pilot. The episode's most memorable quote comes when Homer is the lone man in the lesbian bar She-She Lounge and muses to himself: "Wait a minute... there's something bothering me about this place... I know!" then proceeds to deliver this line.
The joke is hilarious and subversive, setting up the expectation that Homer doesn't realize he is in a lesbian bar before revealing that he is completely aware and is simply safety-conscious. Some of the funniest Simpsons moments come from the show overriding audience expectations like this, with the quote subverting Homer's usual ignorance and showing him taking his experience in the bar far more seriously than he usually takes his safety inspector job at the nuclear power plant.
1 "Let's just say it moved me... to a bigger house! Oops! I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."
"A Star is Burns" - Season 6, Episode 18 (1995)
In The Simpsons' crossover with The Critic, film critic Jay Sherman (Jon Lovitz) comes to Springfield to help judge a film festival created by the townspeople. In his typical selfish fashion, Mr. Burns attempts to win the best film award for his overblown, high-budget epic by bribing members of the jury, including Krusty the Clown. However, instead of being low-key about the bribe, Krusty announces his support for Burns' film by uttering this quote.
The line is hilarious and references the concept of saying the quiet part loud, which has since become a popular meme and a staple of internet discourse, referring to people making their ulterior motives too obvious. Dan Castellaneta's line delivery of the soft "let's just say it moved me..." and proudly enthusiastic "to a bigger house!" is perfect, enhancing the already sharp writing. "A Star is Burns" is full of great lines, and this is by far the most iconic, a perfect encapsulation of The SImpsons' ability to shape pop culture with wickedly quotable lines.
NEXT: The 10 Best Seasons of 'The Simpsons', Ranked
