Summary
Rick Grimes is a survivor who has proven he can walk the walk, being more than capable of taking down a group of zombies if it means protecting his friends and family, but he’s also someone who can talk the talk, too. Though he comes off as a scared and naive sheriff in the first season, asThe Walking Deadgoes on, Rick starts assuming the responsibility of being the leader of his makeshift crew of survivors, resulting in him coming out with plenty of speeches and monologues over the course of the story.
As a result, the protagonist has a plethora of iconic quotes under his belt, which always manage to give viewers a glimpse into the real man who lies beneath the rough and serious exterior. With all that being said, it’s time to analyze these popular Rick Grimes quotes fromThe Walking Deadto see how they all stack up in terms of impact, meaning, and overall memorability.
8"I Killed My Best Friend For You People For Christ’s Sake"
Despite once being best of friends, Rick and Shane’sbrotherly bondis tested once the world goes to hell. After Rick returns to the camp and soon realizes Shane’s mental state is growing more and more unstable, alongside willingly hitching up with Rick’s wife while he was gone, it results in the two having one final confrontation after Shane lures him out into the woods.
In the end, Rick would be forced to kill his own lifelong pal, only for him to shout out in a raging frenzy that he did so for the sake of keeping the others alive and protected. It definitely made for an emotional moment, seeing Rick unable to hold his emotions after taking down his best friend for good.
7"How Many Of You Do I Have To Kill To Save Your Lives?"
Fitting into the quiet and peaceful town of Alexandria isn’t exactly easy for Rick. As someone who is always in survival mode because of everything he’s been forced to endure, he finds it difficult to settle down and live a peaceful life. In fact, Rick gets into several bloody conflicts while living in Alexandria, including one near the end of season 5 where he warns the group that they’re too weak and feeble to survive in the real world.
This is where he lets out this famous line, which still remains a popular topic of discussion to this very day, where he asks, “How many of you do I have to kill to save your lives?” It’s a pretty crude way of saying the group needs to get to grips with surviving, rather than just waiting around for someone to inevitably attack and invade, asThe Wolves and Saviorsdo not long after.
6"There Are No Rules, Man. We’re Lost"
Admittedly, this line has become especially popular in recent years because of how it has been used as a meme, but it also says a lot about the mindset of Rick at the time and the state of the world in general. While out on a supply run together, with tensions running high between them, Rick berates Shane and reminds him that there are “no rules” anymore, and that they are both completely “lost” considering they have essentially both become fish out of water with how the entire world has changed.
On the other hand, this provides a small glimpse at Rick’s growing mistrust of Shane, and how he’s beginning to realize how self-centered he truly is, which would eventually lead toRick becoming the leaderin place of his best friend, who is just too hot-headed for the position.
5"You Being Back With Us Here, Now…That’s Everything. You’re My Brother"
Rick And Daryl Are Two Peas In A Pod
Back in season 4, many of the key characters were separated from one another, and in the case of Daryl, he would wind up begrudgingly joining up with a group of vicious survivors led by a devious ringleader known as Joe. After they try to attack an defenseless Carl, Rick and Daryl end up going berserk, killing the entire group, before then having a heart-to-heart with Daryl about how he got caught up with these guys in the first place.
During the exchange, Rick assures Daryl that all that matters is that he’s now back with the main group, and even calls him a “brother”. This quote signifies just how far Rick and Daryl have truly come since those early episodes, and it’s one that’s hard not to get choked up when hearing for the first time.
4"I Already Made You A Promise"
Not One To Go Back On A Promise, Rick Shows Gareth Exactly What He Meant When He Was A Prisoner
To say season 5 kicks off with a bang would be putting it mildly. After being captured by a merciless group of cannibals, Rick finds himself tied up and face to face withtheir leader, Gareth. Despite being in no position to throw out threats, Ricks promises Gareth that he’ll soon cut him down by using a machete with a red handle.
Fast-forward a few episodes, and the tables have suddenly turned, with Gareth begging for mercy after being ambushed by Rick and his group. After reminding Gareth of the promise he made, Rick brutally kills the cannibal in pretty gory fashion, making this quote memorable for being the final statement before Rick goes on one of his bloodiest rampages in the series.
For The First Time, Rick Manages To Send A Chill Down Negan’s Spine
WhenNegan enters the story, he uses fear as a way to turn Rick into his personal lapdog, ensuring the former sheriff doesn’t get any sneaky ideas about turning on him and his violent pack known as the Saviors. However, Rick slowly but surely starts to regain his confidence again as time goes on, to the point where he even succeeds in striking fear into Negan’s eyes for the very first time with this iconic quote.
After Negan claims that he’s going to humiliate Carl, Rick replies that one day he’s going to kill Negan, and though it may not be today or tomorrow, the day will eventually arrive. The cherry on top of this epic speech is the line at the end where Rick claims that Negan and his men are “already dead”, which proves to Negan that this is a man who just can never be broken, no matter how many times he’s beaten down.
2"This Isn’t A Democracy Anymore"
Rick Affirms His Role As The Leader Of The Pack
When the group first gets together early on in season 1, it’s not exactly made clear who the leader is. While it seemed as though Shane might end up taking this role because of his no-nonsense attitude and willingness to get things done, no matter the risk, Rick would instead be the one that the survivors decided to look up to. In an emotional speech, Rick asks whether any of his fellow survivors want to try and risk going out to survive on their own, only for nobody to accept his offer.
In turn, he states that democracy no longer exists within the group, proclaiming himself as the supreme leader. On the one hand, it’s a pretty eerie quote which highlights just how much society has fallen, but it does also feed into Rick’s determination to keep everyone together under his watchful eye asa sort of dictatorof the group.
Rick Reflects On A Story About His Grandpa And Tells The Group About His Own Philosophy
Coming to terms with the world collapsing and becoming infested with bloodthirsty zombies can’t be easy, but while most people would give up, Rick manages to overcome everything that is thrown his way. Because of this, he eventually started to develop a philosophy which is primarily inspired by his grandfather, who would feel as though he were “dead” any time he stepped into enemy territory duringthe Second World War.
Rick takes this story and explains to his survivors that, if they pretend that they are already dead, they can one day reemerge and be able to finally be alive again, leading him to say the scary yet oddly badass quote “we are the walking dead”. It’s a line that can easily raise goosebumps, and one that no fan of the show will ever be able to forget because of how full of meaning it is.
