100 Best Quotes from The Handmaid’s Tale

Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel. The series depicts a dystopian society where fertile women act as reproductive surrogates for influential figures known as handmaids.

Elizabeth Moss stars as the lead character, June Osborne, a handmaid who struggles to survive in the oppressive world of Gilead.

While this award-winning show centers around a society no one would want to be a part of, there’s no denying that the show is profoundly compelling and packed with intriguing quotes.

Here’s the scoop on the best quotes from The Handmaid’s Tale!

1. “They should have never given us uniforms if they didn’t want us to be an army.” – June

2. “They all think I’m crazy, but I’m not.” – Janine

3. “Now I’m awake to the world. I was asleep before.” – June

4. “You can’t change anything about this. It’s going to end the same no matter what you do so there’s no point trying to be tough or brave.” – Nick

5. “There was an Offred before me. She helped me find my way out. She’s dead. She’s alive. She is me.” – June

6. “My name Is Moira. Not Ruby, a**hole.” – Moira

7. “You’re absolutely right. But sometimes we have to do what is best for everyone, not what is fair.” – Aunt Lydia

8. “Better never means better for everyone.” – Fred

9. “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” – Offred

10. “Even the righteous need a little show business.” – Serena

11. “Sterile. That’s a forbidden word. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore. There’s only women who are fruitful and women who are barren.” – June

12. “Blessed be the Fruit Loops.” – Erin

13. “Love isn’t real, it was never anything more than lust with a good marketing campaign.” – Fred

14. “Never mistake a women’s meekness for weakness.” – Mrs. Castillo

15. “The world can be quite an ugly place. But we cannot wish that ugliness away. We cannot hide from that ugliness.” – Aunt Lydia

16. “I can do anything I want.” – Janine

17. “Moira, you wouldn’t stand for this sh*t. You wouldn’t let them keep you in this room for two weeks. You’d find a way out. You’d escape.” – June

18. “We are handmaids.” – June

19. “It reminds me of a poem I read once.” – June

20. “When they slaughtered Congress, we didn’t wake up. When they blamed terrorists and suspended the Constitution, we didn’t wake up then either. They said it would be temporary. Nothing changes instantaneously. In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.” – June

21. “I know the way out: black van, feet first.” – Moira

22. “I’ve learned that he likes it when I flirt. And I like it when he lets me win. We’re a match made in heaven.” – June

23. “The most painful thing in this entire ugly incident is the ingratitude.” – Aunt Lydia

24. “God knows what’s in your heart.” – Serena

25. “Is this enough for you, this bullsh*t life? Is this what you want? You want to polish his car and… once in a while, try to get a handmaid pregnant? Is that enough for you?” – June

26. “We are handmaids.” – June

27. “We’re being stupid. You know we’re being stupid. It’s too dangerous.” – Nick

28. “No, it isn’t.” – June

29.“ You could end up on the wall.” – Nick

30.“But at least someone will remember me. In this place. At least someone will care when I’m gone. That’s something.” – June

31. “What have I learned, after 34 games?” – June

32. “Whatever punishment these girls had to endure was for the greater good. They deserve to be honored just like everyone else.” – Aunt Lydia

33. “You won’t want what you cannot have.” – Aunt Lydia

34. “Red’s my color.” – June

35. “You think I prayed for this? You think I prayed to bring a baby into this house?” – June

36. “And we do honor them. But you don’t put the bruised apples at the top of the crate, do you?” – Serena

37. “This will become ordinary.” – Aunt Lydia

38. “Someone once said that men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.” – June

39. “We can try for a boy this time.”- Fred

40. “Go f*ck yourself, Fred.” – June

41. “She will obey his word.” – Serena

42. “She cannot read his word.” – June

43. “Soon you will be leaving us for new homes, a new family. And they won’t judge you for your looks, or your clothes or your ability to sound clever.” – Aunt Lydia

44. “I stretch out my arms to him, but he slips away. Like a ghost at daybreak. And I am left here.” – Offred

45. “If you had done better research, you would know I would never betray my country.” – Serena

46. “I thought you already did.”- Mark

47. “In reduced circumstances the desire to live attaches itself to strange object” – June

48. “Now, a tune to remind everyone who’s listening—American patriot or Gilead traitor—that we are still here. Stars and stripes forever, baby.” – Oprah

49. “Blessed be the fruit.” – June

50. “May the force be with you.” – Janine

51. “Every love story’s a tragedy if you wait long enough.” – Fred

52. “I don’t need oranges. I need to scream.” – June

53. “There’s always someone, even when there is no one.” – June

54. “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, b*tches.” – June

55. “We must treat these girls respectfully, in a godly fashion, despite the moral stain from their lives before.” – Andrew Pryce

56. “It was true, I took too much for granted; I trusted fate, back then” – Offred

57. “How easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all.” – June

58. “If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending” – June

59. “It’s hard making it in a society that only cares about profit and pleasure.” – Andrew Pryce

60. “There’s always a black market, there’s always something that can be exchanged.”  – June

61. Mayday can’t use me anymore. But you can help them.” – Emily

62. “Goodness. You look like the wreck of the Hesperus.” – Aunt Lydia

63. “What are you doing here?” – June

64. “I feel safer when we’re together. Handmaids always walk in twos, remember?” – Janine

65. “You said you weren’t gonna be any trouble.” – Joseph

66. “Yeah, I lied.” – June

67. “Pray for Gilead.” – Moira

68. “I will not be that girl in the box.” – June

69. “It’s not rocket science. All remaining fertile women should be collected and impregnated. By those of superior status, of course.” – Commander Guthrie

70. “You’re talking about concubines!” – Andrew Pryce

71. “I don’t care what you want to call it.” – Commander Guthrie

72. “The wives would never accept it.” – Fred

73. “That’s a non-issue.” – Commander Guthrie

74. “We won’t succeed without their support. You know that.” – Fred

75. “Maybe the wife should be there. For the act. It would be less of a violation. There is scriptural precedent.” – Andrew Pryce

76. “Act may not be the best name. From a branding perspective. The Ceremony?” – Fred

77. “Sounds good. Nice and godly. The wives will eat that sh*t up.” – Commander Guthrie

78. “After they finished their questions, they gave me a choice: the Colonies or Jezebel’s.” – Moira

79. “We’re gonna find a way to get you out of here, okay?” – June

80. “No one’s made a move yet here, but I can’t help feeling there’s a target on my back.” – Fred

81. “ I suppose that’s what happens when you’re the boss.” – June

82. “You do understand me, don’t you.” – Fred

83. “It’s like walking in the past, don’t you think?” – Fred

84. “I thought these kinds of places were forbidden.” – June

85. “Officially.” – Fred

86. “Unofficially?” – June

87. “Oh, we turn a blind eye. Everyone’s human, after all. Now, let’s get you a drink.” – Fred

88. “Praised be his mercy. He’s answered our prayers.” – Serena

89. “Some of us retain an appreciation for the old things.” – Fred

90. “Maybe she’s just keeping me occupied until the black van arrives.” – June

91. “That look on your face is thanks enough.” – Fred

92. “How hard would I have to press those shears into her neck before seeing blood?” – June

93. “I just find the whole thing so impersonal.” – Fred

94. “You miss this? Lists of made up problems.” – Fred

95. “We had choices then.” – June

96. “Now you have respect. You have protection. You can fulfill your biological destinies in peace.” – Fred

97. “Biological destiny?” – June

98. “Children. What else is there to live for?” – Fred

99. “Up for some excitement? I thought maybe we could do something different tonight.” – Fred

100. “Monopoly?” – June

If you enjoyed these quotes from The Handmaid’s Tale, get ready because Hulu has renewed the series for another season!

Which quote from The Handmaid’s Tale is your favorite?

For the scoop on more quotes, check out these articles:

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