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Today marks 25 years—yes, a quarter of a century—since Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte first graced our screens in the sizzling-hot Sex and the City pilot. It was 1998, and this show was something new: We were approaching the millennium, the ’90s’ whole thing was optimism, and these four love-and-sex enthusiasts arrived into our lives to present a new future for women and gays everywhere—a sort of pre-fourth-wave-feminism feminism; some good bits, some bad.
One critic called it flat, bitter, and flaccid (iconic), claiming the pilot’s script needed a shot of Viagra (also iconic). And yet somehow these women spoke to us problematically aspirational girls the world over. Here were four women sat around in chic Manhattan walk-ups, smoking, playing poker, talking about abortions as casually as last season’s runways, objectifying men, and expecting more from them at once. It might have all been at times totally frustrating—Carrie’s narcissism, Charlotte’s Republican bent, Miranda’s deep underselling of herself. Samantha is flawless; I won’t hear a bad word! But these women both represented and arguably dictated a generation’s frustrations with dating, working, and trying to have it all.
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I remember watching it for the first time when I was much too young, feeling the rare and blissful feeling you get when both the complex and superficial parts of your inner life are reflected back at you by actual characters speaking aloud. These women were so mesmerizing: outrageous, honest, sexy, chic. But the prevailing draw of the show, for me at least, is that these women enjoy their lives. They revel in the terrible men, the bad emotions, the lost loves, and the absurd spending habits. So many of their words and deeds are words not to live by, sure, but so many of them are. And here, in no particular order, are our 25 favorite Sex and the City quotes.
A classic Carrie-ism, plucked right from the final episode. There she is: in Paris, in Dior, with everything she thought she wanted. And yet it’s not enough. The number of times I’ve almost typed this out and sent it to a one-night stand who hasn’t texted me back is concerning.
This is Miranda at her best: seeing things for what they really are. The true bummer of this episode is that by the end she comes groveling back to the girls, desperate to talk about her ex. Almost, Miranda, almost!
What more is there to say? Samantha on politics (part I). A classic. No notes.
While, like most Charlotte-isms, it’s not the most outrageous nor camp thing to say, I would argue that this is the dating rule from the show I’ve heard applied to real life most often. Jury’s still out on whether she’s right—although it does give you a time window within which to be a total nightmare post breakup.
Sometimes Carrie’s columns were spot-on.
Ridiculous (am I fired?) but sadly very, very chic.
A season-one zinger from Samantha. And she never changed her mind on that!
A classic Charlotte: absurd, detached from reality. Love.
It was Miranda who always had the most relatable issues in her love life. “Yes, that’s illegal dumping,” Carrie replies.
Sometimes dear delusional Carrie did indeed get it.
If there’s anything the show’s writers knew how to do, it was to put the best lines in the mouths of their iconic cameos. Here, Lexi Featherston calls out a group of Manhattan’s literati before falling to her peril from the window of Carrie’s Vogue editor’s apartment (adore). Her funeral scene opens with the genius line from Stanford: “She tripped on her Manolo?”
The way I’ll fantasize about Amalita Amalfi’s life is unhealthy. The only person to rival Samantha in legend. Bring her back for And Just Like That, you cowards!
Geri Halliwell as Phoebe Kittenworth (dead); Carrie’s publishers Courtney and Lily, played by Amy Sedaris and Molly Shannon (genius); Samantha’s frenemy Claire Anne, who out-sluts Samantha (ugh); Susan Sharon, Bitsy Von Muffling, and Nathan Lane as her gay-not-gay husband; Alanis Morissette as Carrie’s only onscreen lesbian kiss (I die!); and of course Liza as Liza in the second movie (which we don’t talk about).
For a show all about romance, it was decidedly marriage critical. And nobody was a bigger critic than Samantha.
He’s not wrong! “We all judge. That’s our hobby. Some people do arts and crafts. We judge.” Once again, on the money! And finally the pièce de résistance: “Oh, my God, she’s fashion roadkill!” as Heidi Klum steps over Carrie in arguably the best Sex and the City episode of the show ever. Brava!
Carrie really does do a stellar line in inspirational love quotes. This one, from the season-two finale, is a spine-tingler for any 14-year-old dreaming of being an emotionally complex woman who ends up marrying into wealth. Delivered via voiceover as she walks away from Big and stares a whinnying horse in the eye. It’s bonkers vibes but so deeply perfect. I wish I could watch it for the first time again.
Samantha on politics, part II. If only it were that easy.
The episode “A Woman’s Right to Shoes” is a classic feminist text. And while this could be Carrie at her most unbearable, she’s sort of right when she demands a present for all the parties she hasn’t had to celebrate the normative heterosexual life stages we’re often forced to pay out for.
They really did just give all the best Sex and the City quotes to Samantha.
I mean? Samantha!
One more time for the gays! To Samantha!
“I’m sick of people with children, they’re everywhere.” Perfect. “Nipples are huge right now, open any magazine.” Still true. “I love you, but I love me more.” Words to live by. “You dated Mr. Big. I’m dating Mr. Too Big.” Genius. And of course: “I’m dating a guy with the funkiest-tasting spunk.” Chef’s kiss!
The final three have to go to our complicated muse Carrie, because while she is arguably the most irritating of the four, no one in the pop-cultural space has shaped the way we think about dating, love, and, most importantly, friendship like Miss Caroline Bradshaw.
End scene! The final lines of the series. Who’s calling? John James Preston.
