8 Rick and Morty Quotes that Make You Go “Hmm”

By Therese Aseoche

Adult Swim’s hit cartoon “Rick and Morty” is undeniably one of the smartest shows we have on the Internet.

Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, “Rick and Morty” follows mad scientist and inventor Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty Smith in their intergalactic misadventures through space and parallel universes.

It’s a cartoon not meant to be enjoyed; it’s meant to make you think — about your existence, about purpose, about mortality and morality — with every nugget of Rick-branded drunken wisdom.

It cuts deep with the ideas it presents — every philosophical, cynical and obscene idea. Unlike adult cartoons along the same vein such as “Bojack Horseman” which allows us to absorb these ideas slowly, “Rick and Morty” slaps them right onto our faces instead. And what’s worse is that “Rick and Morty” does this with no other intention than to make us feel depressed and powerless.

But the moral of the story every time is to realize all these shitty things, and then move on. Because while we may never find an answer to our existence and all that happens in our lives, we can just enjoy the life we have and eventually find a sense of purpose.

Here are just 8 quotes from “Rick and Morty” that will definitely get you thinking.

8. On Finding Purpose

One of the topics frequently discussed in the show is the existence of parallel universes. This haunts Morty especially when he and Rick enter an alternate life wherein their other selves had just died, in order to escape their own crumbling reality. In the episode following that incident, where Summer was sulking after discovering she had been an unwanted child, Morty tells her this:

“Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV?” (Rixty Minutes)

Morty tells her this to prove that our lives don’t need to have meaning to exist because we’ll all end up dead anyway. So all we can do is just live.

7. On Infinite Possibilities

You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t haunted by what ifs. But even when there are an infinite number of realities that could be much better than your current reality, Rick keeps our feet planted on the ground with this:

“What about the reality where Hitler cured cancer, Morty? The answer is: Don’t think about it.” (Rick Potion No. 9)

He means that even though there might be better alternate universes that we might not know about, there’s no use dwelling on them or pining for them. What matters is the life you’re currently living and what you make of it.

6. On Education

When Jerry blames Rick for Morty’s failures in school, Rick jumps to Morty’s defense to complain about the education system.

“I’ll tell you how I feel about school, Jerry: it’s a waste of time. Bunch of people running around bumping into each other, got a guy up front says, “2 + 2,” and the people in the back say, “4.” Then the bell rings and they give you a carton of milk and a piece of paper that says you can go take a dump or something. I mean, it’s not a place for smart people, Jerry. I know that’s not a popular opinion, but that’s my two cents on the issue.” (Pilot)

He doesn’t discuss it extensively, but he attempts to drill down the point that not everyone (including “smart people” like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates) benefits from staying in school.

5. On Capitalism

“Like nothing shady ever happened in a fully furnished office? You ever hear about Wall Street Morty? You know what those guys do in their fancy board rooms? They take their balls and dip ’em in cocaine and wipe ’em all over each other. You know, Grandpa goes around and he does his business in public because grandpa isn’t shady.” (MortyNight Run)

Basically, you can’t always trust white collars and big corporations. Everything they do will always be profit-oriented, and nothing about that is every going to change.

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