Summary

• The best quotes from Jerry Maguire range from heartbreaking to inspiring to laugh-out-loud funny, making it a classic rom-com with memorable lines.
• The movie's timeless quotes are still regularly quoted today, even by people who may not know which movie they originated from.
• Jerry Maguire's honest and desperate approach to his job leads to hilariously blunt moments, showing that honesty can be a surprisingly good thing in this business.

From the funny to the heartfelt, the best Jerry Maguire quotes highlight just how many memorable lines are in the classic rom-com. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, the movie is a funny and charming story that is also one of the most quotable movies in Hollywood history. What makes Jerry Maguire such a good movie is that the best quotes from the movie are quite varied. They range from heartbreaking to inspiring to laugh-out-loud funny. They encom all the things the movie does so well and why it remains a classic decades later thanks in part to the Jerry Maguire quotes.

It seems the more years since its release, the more Jerry Maguire becomes a more forgotten movie in Tom Cruise's filmography. But it still holds up as a sweet and hilarious romantic comedy all these years later. In a testament to the screenplay, there are several lines of dialogue that are still regularly quoted by people in everyday life, many of whom are probably not even aware of which movie those lines originated from. It is the timeless quotes that make Jerry Maguire a classic deserving of a revisit.

20 "You Don't Know What It's Like To Be ME Out Here For YOU. It Is An Up-At-Dawn, Pride-Swallowing Siege That I Will Never Fully Tell You About, OK?"

Jerry Maguire

The relationship between Jerry and Rod is one of the best aspects of Jerry Maguire with a real friendship forming between them. However, in of their professional relationship, it can be trying at times. Rod has a big ego and his attitude has not made him popular with some people. While Jerry would likely try to hide these realities from his clients in the past, his new and more desperate approach to the job leads him to be hilariously blunt with Rod, allowing all frustrations be voiced. It shows that a little honesty can be a surprisingly good thing in this job.

19 "I Just Want To Be Inspired."

Dorothy Boyd

The rom-com mixed with a sports story is an interesting concept for Jerry Maguire which works surprisingly well because of how it treats Jerry and Dorothy’s relationship. While audiences are rooting for them from the beginning, it also becomes clear that these two may have been rushing things and it is evident in Dorothy’s heartbreaking ission. She balances the fact that Jerry genuinely cares for her son Ray while recognizing that the same love might not be there between her and Jerry. She ultimately has to it to herself that it’s not enough and that she deserves happiness too.

18 "You Are Hanging On By A Very Thin Thread And I Dig That About You!"

Rod Tidwell

When Jerry loses all of his clients, the one man who stands with him is Rod Tidwell, an arrogant yet overlooked football player with an eccentric view of the business. Rod wants money and success in his short time as a professional athlete and pushes Jerry to make it happen for him. However, he also seems to like the underdog quality of Jerry when he loses everything. When Jerry makes a ionate and desperate plea to get Rod to recognize the difficult position they are in, Rod only responds in amusement at just how close Jerry is to falling apart and how excited that makes him.

17 "The Key To This Business Is Personal Relationships."

Dicky Fox

Throughout the movie, the audience is shown glimpses of Jerry Maguire’s sports agent mentor, Dicky Fox. He shares pearls of wisdom and advice he has learned over the course of his career. The one that seems to resonate the most with Jerry is the idea of personal relationships within the sports agent world and perhaps a lesson that Jerry forgot as he continued to become more successful. However, Dicky’s lesson becomes more important to the overall story not only in how he works with Rod but also in finding happiness with Dorothy.

16 "It's Not 'Show Friends.' It's Show *Business*."

Bob Sugar

Most movies need a villain and Bob Sugar fills that role in Jerry Maguire. He is a fellow agent at Jerry’s firm who takes great pleasure in letting Jerry know that he is fired and then subsequently taking the high profile clients from Jerry. Bob is an easy character to dislike and the movie makes it clear that he represents the polar opposite of Jerry’s idealistic view of the profession. This Jerry Maguire quote from Sugar solidifies his more heartless approach which makes Jerry’s attempts to beat him a matter of principles instead of just pride.

15 "Breakdown? No, Breakthrough."

Jerry Maguire

The opening of Jerry Maguire finds the titular sports agent at the top of his game while also seeing himself as "just another shark in a suit." Reflection causes him to re-evaluate his job and how he should operate in it. He begins writing a mission statement about these feelings, seeing it as a breakthrough moment. But his questioning of whether it is a breakdown or breakthrough haunts him for a long time after as he finds himself regretting ever putting those thoughts out there in the world.

14 "That's How You Become Great, Man. Hang Your Balls Out There."

Jesus of CopyMat

Jerry's guilt-ridden mission statement about what the world of sports agencies could be is what gets the story moving. Jerry is taking a risk by writing this mission statement, and it ultimately is what causes him to get fired from the company. However, when he goes to make copies of it, the copy clerk (Jerry Cantrell), simply credited as "Jesus of CopyMat", gives him some words of encouragement. Jerry finding wisdom in this random man is funny as it shows him getting perhaps too caught up in his own ideas. On the other hand, the man's point about taking risks to achieve greatness is not wrong.

13 “Just Jump Right Into My Nightmare, The Water Is Warm.”

Jerry Maguire

Jerry's attempt to break up with his fiancée Avery (Kelly Preston) does not go smoothly, to say the least. After attempting to speak to her with emotional honesty in line with his new mission statement, Jerry is left with the cold hard realization that Avery only cares about making the sale. This is evidently not what Jerry was hoping to hear based on this hilarious Jerry Maguire quote, but this soon pales in comparison to the problems Jerry faces when he actually breaks up with Avery moments later, and she launches into a physical attack on him.

12 "I Was 35. I Had Started My Life."

Jerry Maguire

The movie starts in a very exciting way with the creation of the mission statement and the reaction to it. It wasn't until later in life that Jerry Maguire was finally able to start his life and live by his own rules. Sometimes life requires a big leap in order to finally start really living. Something had been missing in Jerry's life for a long time, both in his career and in his romantic relationship. Once he started to be honest with his desires and actually went after them, he was able to find true happiness and success, and it was thrilling watching him discover that.

11 "Don't Worry, I'm Not Gonna Do What You All Think I'm Gonna Do, Which Is, You Know, Flip Out!"

Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise is usually seen as the collected and effective operator in most of his roles. What makes Jerry Maguire such an amazing role for the actor is that he allows himself to be seen as pathetic and near his lowest point. This is best seen during his cringe-worthy exit from his firm after being fired. His attempts to leave with his head held high go awry as he proceeds to embarrass himself in a way audiences have rarely seen from Cruise in a movie.