50 'Grey's Anatomy' Quotes That Will Give You All the Feels

"You never think that the last time is the last time." —Meredith Grey

There are two kinds of people in the world—those who gain all of their medical knowledge from watching Grey's Anatomy and those who, unfortunately, don't watch. (Boo, those people!) The long-running medical drama that has made mega-stars out of Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, Jesse Williams, and Patrick Dempsey, is still going strong in its 19th season.

Especially with the help of streaming! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the most recent Grey's Anatomy fall finale continued to draw big numbers, reaching 8.7 million viewers, after 7 days of streaming across all platforms.

While those numbers aren't what the show reached in its heyday, Grey's clearly still resonates with its viewers. So much so, in fact, that Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes told Variety in 2021 what she hopes the legacy of the series will be.

"The number of women who have become doctors because of that show is magical to me," Rhimes said. "The number of people who've come to me and told me that they learned how to do CPR, or figured out that they were having a heart attack because of that show, is magical to me."

Something else that's magical to Rhimes? Grey's was her first foray into TV.

“It was my very first television show," she explained. "It was something I made up 20 years ago and it's still there, and still existing. It's inspiring to me!"

Related: The Real Reason Ellen Pompeo Is Leaving Grey's Anatomy

As the series sets itself up for a restart without Meredith Grey at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, we're looking back on some of the memorable moments from the show. Here are the 50 of the best Grey's Anatomy quotes.

50 Best Grey's Anatomy Quotes

1. "We may only be together five minutes every two months, but when we do we will savor every second. We know how valuable those five minutes are." —Ben Warren

2. "Why do we even try when the barriers are so high and the odds are so low? Why don’t we just pack it in and go home?" —Amelia Shepherd

3. "The body is a slave to its impulses. But the thing that makes us human is what we can control. After the storm, after the rush, after the heat of the moment has passed, we can cool off and clean up the messes we made. We can try to let go of what was." —Meredith Grey

Related: Ellen Pompeo's Net Worth and How Much She Made From Grey's Anatomy

4. "I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle and...I know you don't want to come. If I loved you, I wouldn't be up there waiting for you. I would be letting you go." —Preston Burke

5. "Sometimes you have to be a shark." —Lucy Fields

6. "Deal with your jealousy. Deal with your shortcomings. Don’t put your crap on me." —Stephanie Edwards

7. "You never think that the last time is the last time. You think there will be more. You think you have forever, but you don't." —Meredith Grey

8. "Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop." —Meredith Grey

9. "If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you're scared that it's not the right thing. Even if you're scared that it'll cause problems. Even if you're scared that it will burn your life to the ground, you say it, and you say it loud and you go from there." —Mark Sloan

10. "You have to go back to the beginning to understand the end." —Teddy Altman

11. "Knowing is better than wondering. Waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beats the hell out of never trying." —Meredith Grey

12. "If you aren't willing to keep looking for light in the darkest of places without stopping, even when it seems impossible, you will never succeed." —Amelia Shepherd

13. "You were like coming up for fresh air. It's like I was drowning and you saved me. That's all I know." —Derek Shepherd

14. "It turns out sometimes you have to do the wrong thing. Sometimes you have to make a big mistake to figure out how to make things right. Mistakes are painful, but they're the only way to find out who we really are." —Denny Duquette

15. "Being aware of your crap and actually overcoming your crap are two very different things." —Cristina Yang

16. "I love everything about you. Even the things I don't like, I love. And I want you with me. I love you and I think you love me too. Do you?" —Jackson Avery

17. "Not everyone has to be happy all the time. That isn’t mental health. That’s crap." —Meredith Grey

Related: Meet Ellen Pompeo's Longtime Leading Man, Husband Chris Ivery!

18. "Sometimes it's good to be scared. It means you still have something to lose." —Richard Webber

19. "It's a beautiful day to save lives." —Derek Shepherd

20. "Don’t analyze everything. Just do it." —Alex Karev

21. "Intimacy is a four letter syllable for, here’s my heart and soul, please grind them into a hamburger and enjoy. It’s both desired and feared. Difficult to live with, impossible to live without." —Meredith Grey

22. "Just because people do horrible things, it doesn't always mean they're horrible people." —Izzie Stevens

23. "Make a plan. Set a goal. Work toward it, but every now and then look around. Drink it in, 'cause this is it. It might all be gone tomorrow." —Meredith Grey

24. "I want so much for you. For both of us. So much more than this. More than being stuck with someone who feels stuck. I want you to feel free." —Callie Torres

25. "You can have the worst crap in the world happen to you and you can get over it. All you gotta do is survive." —Alex Karev

26. "Breakthroughs don't happen because of the medicine. Real breakthroughs happen because someone is scared to death to stop trying." —Derek Shepherd

27. "Don't ever date a man who can't handle your power."—Meredith Grey

Related: Ellen Pompeo Says She Isn't Really Leaving Grey's Anatomy: 'It's a Little Bit of a Trick'

28. "We don't get unlimited chances to have the things that we want, and this I know. Nothing is worse than missing an opportunity that could have changed your life." —Addison Montgomery

29. "Yes, horrible things do happen. Happiness, in the face of all of that, that's not the goal. Feeling horrible, and knowing that you're not gonna die from those feelings, that's the point." —Katherine Wyatt

30. "The expected is what keeps us steady. It’s the unexpected that changes our lives forever." —Meredith Grey

31. "Bad things happen, but you have to move past it. Leave it behind. The sooner, the better. Or it’ll eat away at you and stop you from moving forward." —Miranda Bailey

32. "Don't let what he wants eclipse what you need. He's very dreamy, but he's not the sun. You are." —Cristina Yang

33. "The future is the home of our deepest fears and our wildest hopes."—Owen Hunt

34. "Don't look at me like that. Like I'm damaged goods. I'm still me. I'm still here." —Adele Webber

35. "Friends are the family we choose." —Meredith Grey

36. "This is the way the world changes. Good people, raising babies right." —Catherine Avery

37. "You are in a spaceship. You're going to the moon. Enjoy the ride." —Alex Karev

Related: Debbie Allen Reveals the Secret to Why Grey's Anatomy Has Endured

38. "For a kiss to be really good, you want it to mean something. You want it to be with someone you can't get out of your head, so that when your lips finally touch, you feel it everywhere. A kiss so hot and so deep you never want to come up for air. You can't cheat your first kiss. Trust me, you don't want to. Cause when you find that right person for a first kiss, it's everything." —Alex Karev

39. "The problem is we are human. We want more than to just survive. We want to love." —Lexie Grey

40. "Grief may be a thing we all have in common but it looks different on everyone. It isn't just death we have to grieve. It's life, it’s loss, it’s change. And when we wonder why it has to suck so much sometimes, it has to hurt so bad." —Meredith Grey

41. "It'll hurt every time you think of her. But over time, it will hurt less and less. And eventually you'll remember her and it will only hurt a little." —Cristina Yang

42. “She’s my person. If I murdered someone, she’s the person I’d call to help me drag the corpse across the living room floor. She’s my person.”—Cristina Yang

43. "There comes a point when you have to suck it up and stop whining and start living." —Callie Torres

44. "Please don’t give up on me. Promise. Promise me you won't." —Arizona Robbins

45. "Don't let fear keep you quiet. You have a voice so use it. Speak up. Raise your hands. Shout your answers. Make yourself heard. Whatever it takes, just find your voice, and when you do, fill the damn silence." —Meredith Grey

46. "Yes or no. In or out. Up or down. Live or die. Hero or coward. Fight or give in. I’ll say it again to make sure you hear me. The human life is made up of choices. Live or die. That’s the important choice. And it’s not always in our hands." —Derek Shepherd

47. "So you fight. Until you can’t fight anymore." —Amelia Shepherd

48. "How are you fine? How are you just completely fine? I am ruined, OK? I am dead, I am wrecked." —Cristina Yang

49. "Every kiss before the right kiss doesn’t count anyway." —Derek Shepherd

50. "Promise that you’ll love me, even when you hate me." —Meredith Grey

Next, Everything We Know So Far About Grey's Anatomy Season 20!