The Matrix Franchises 15 Best Quotes, Ranked

Summary

• Neo’s most famous quotes establish that he does not completely believe in fate but will fight anyway.
• Morpheus often affirms his unwavering faith, while Agent Smith tries to rattle the heroes with arguments about the futility of their struggle.
• Trinity has some straightforward, memorable lines that emphasize her iron will.

The Matrix includes many great quotes that reflect the franchise’s main themes of destiny vs. free will, or that highlight the characters’ ingenuity and endurance. Following the saga of Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) battle against the machines and their virtual reality known as the Matrix, the franchise’s best (and worst) quotes are often deeply philosophical. There are points when The Matrix’s discourses become too meandering, yet some simple lines from the characters affirming the threat they pose are also fan favorites.

Amazing quotes emerge from the characters’ iconic personas: Morpheus’ (Laurence Fishburne) belief in the importance of truth and destiny, Trinity’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) strategy of facing any problem head-on, and Agent Smith’s (Hugo Weaving) endless rhetorical questions about the nature of their world. The Oracle (Gloria Foster/Mary Alice) also claims some memorable moments with her enigmatic insights into what is to come. Overall, The Matrix is an iconic franchise because of its aesthetics and lines that leave an impression, even if they don’t always make sense.

15 “May There Be Mercy On Man And Machines For Their Sins.”

Said By The Instructor | The Animatrix

The Animatrix’s revelations about the events that led to the circumstances of the Matrix movies do not frame humanity as particularly heroic. The machines moved to wipe out humanity, but world leaders denied every opportunity for peace beforehand, and made and abused the machines to begin with. The Instructor (Julia Fletcher) is an element of Zion’s historical files, and yet they are impartial about the conflict. They remind the human resident of Zion who is reviewing the files and the movie’s audience that the apocalypse is a cautionary tale, not a justification for war.

14 “Temporary Constructs Of A Feeble Human Intellect Trying Desperately To Justify An Existence That Is Without Meaning Or Purpose. And All Of Them As Artificial As The Matrix Itself.”

Said By Agent Smith | The Matrix Revolutions

Much of what Smith says in the later movies is considered somewhat meaningless, yet his final argument against Neo’s ideology of freedom touches upon some strong themes. Smith believes that no one is free of destiny, but here, he elaborates upon this by saying that it renders life meaningless. Smith is harshly critical of humanity, suggesting that submitting themselves to control is the only way forward. Here he presents an interesting nihilistic thesis while bringing the story full circle by comparing it to “the Matrix itself,” even if it is just one more evil statement for Neo to disregard.

13 “Not Everyone Believes What You Believe.” “My Beliefs Do Not Require Them To.”

Said By Commander Lock & Morpheus | The Matrix Reloaded

Some of Morpheus’ statements about his belief in destiny come across as unnecessarily preachy, especially when Neo is skeptical about his role as the One. Morpheus also comes into conflict with some of Zion’s other leaders in this regard. However, whether he is right or wrong, Morpheus’ unwavering faith that humanity will eventually triumph is admirable. The line that best encapsulates this is his brief exchange with Commander Lock (Harry Lennix) where he acknowledges the fact that not everyone agrees with him — but affirms that getting others to agree is not the point.

12 “My Name Is Trinity And You Better Take Your Hands Off Of Me.”

Said By Trinity | The Matrix Resurrections

The legacy sequel does not have as many strong quotes as much of the franchise’s philosophical material has been done many times over by this point, and the characters are ironically quoting the original movies a lot. However, Trinity’s powerful moment of reclaiming her identity after living a false life for years in the Matrix is a highlight. Even if the plot isn’t the best, this moment of Trinity coming back to herself is amazing to watch. It is also a nod to another awesome line she says in Reloaded: “Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again.”

11 “We’re Not Here Because We’re Free. We’re Here Because We’re *Not* Free.”

Said By Agent Smith | The Matrix Reloaded

Again, some of Smith’s quotes about how everyone is bound by a predetermined fate come across as nonsense. However, he makes a fairly well-reasoned argument right before the “burly brawl.” Neo is there about to fight him because he is bound by an ethical responsibility to the people of Zion, while Smith is driven because his program disrupted. “There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose,” he says. Smith is ultimately bound by whatever intrinsic need he has to destroy Neo, which leads him to take over the Matrix itself, and Neo to battle him one last time.

10 “You Always Told Me To Stay Off The Freeway.”

Said By Trinity | The Matrix Reloaded

Right before the movie heads into the famous freeway chase, it ups the stakes with a perfect exchange between Morpheus and Trinity establishing the danger of driving on the freeway:

“You always told me to stay off the freeway.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“You said it was suicide.”

“Then let us hope that I was wrong.”

However, by now, the viewer has figured out that the movies make a habit of having Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus do things that no one else in this world has done before because it is supposed to be a death sentence. This might have felt like another narrative cliché if what followed hadn’t been such an impressive sequence. As a result, the audience appreciates the quote even more in retrospect.

9 “No Lieutenant, Your Men Are Already Dead.”

Said By Agent Smith | The Matrix

Even Agent Smith vouches for how much of a threat Trinity is. There aren’t that many lines strongly associated with The Matrix’s opening scene before it segues into Trinity single-handedly taking on the police and fleeing the Agents. However, both Smith ominously arriving at the scene and his assertion of how dangerous Trinity is serve as ambiguous indicators to the audience of their status in the story. It is then, of course, followed by the famous action sequence that is just as mysterious to people seeing it for the first time when the movie has yet to explain how the setting works.

8 “I Didn’t Come Here To Tell You How This Is Going To End. I Came Here To Tell You How It’s Going To Begin.”

Said By Neo | The Matrix

By staying with Morpheus, Neo is accepting a certain amount of destiny, because Morpheus has made it so clear that he believes Neo is the One. However, Neo’s final lines in the first movie establish that he is still unsure of the future. Neo says earlier in the movie that he doesn’t like the idea of destiny, and that is still true. However, he has learned the truth from Morpheus and Trinity and is going to fight regardless. Nonetheless, his words still have a feeling of prophecy to them when he is talking about a bigger conflict taking shape.

7 “What’s Really Going To Bake Your Noodle Later On Is, Would You Still Have Broken It If I Hadn’t Said Anything?”

Said By The Oracle | The Matrix

The Oracle says a lot of confusing things. However, one of her best lines is where she is completely upfront about the fact that she is, to an extent, messing with Neo. The question she prompts about whether he would have broken her vase if she hadn’t said anything sums up the whole discourse on cause and effect concerning destiny. Plenty of prophecies from the mythology for which some of the Matrix characters are named only come true because the protagonist heard about the prophecy first. Yet the Oracle says the line in a joking manner, despite its broader implications.

6 “Dodge This.”

Said By Trinity | The Matrix

Trinity gets several deadpan, threatening comments that emphasize her role in the action, and how many times Neo would have been helpless without her. However, none are as famous as her simple “dodge this” before shooting an Agent point-blank. The effect of the moment is compounded by the lead-up: Neo and Trinity both show off their combative skills in the lobby shoot-out before Neo pulls off the “bullet time” moment. However, as technically impressive as bullet time looks to the audience, Trinity firing a single shot almost undermines it with how swift and brutal she is.

5 “The Matrix Cannot Tell You Who You Are.”

Said By Trinity | The Matrix

When Neo starts pondering all the memories he has of a life that never happened, Trinity touches upon a slightly different theme, of identity rather than destiny. Trinity probably believes in some sense of destiny (at least by the end of the movie) because of what the Oracle told her about her future. However, she is assertive about who she is and why she does what she does. “The Matrix cannot tell you who you are” is another somewhat obvious moral Neo needs to hear — and it has a nice ring to it, with the title reference included.

4 “Human Beings Are A Disease, A Cancer Of This Planet. You’re A Plague, And We Are The Cure.”

Said By Agent Smith | The Matrix

To an extent, Smith rambling on throughout the franchise about how none of the characters have any choice or freedom does rattle the heroes, mainly because they are already asking these questions. However, Smith’s best argument is not about “inevitability” but what it is that brought them there. The allusion to what gave rise to the AI apocalypse adds another layer to the story, one that is only fully addressed again in The Animatrix. It deepens the setting with environmental concerns and a note of humanity’s destructive tendencies, making it one of Smith’s strongest moments as an intellectual villain.

3 “You Have The Look Of A Man Who Accepts What He Sees… Because He’s Expecting To Wake Up.”

Said By Morpheus | The Matrix

Fishburne’s performance in the scene where Neo and Morpheus meet is timeless, where Morpheus espouses some profound messages before waking Neo up. A huge part of this discourse is that what Morpheus is about to reveal to Neo is deeply unsettling, and while Neo has intuitively known something is wrong for some time, seeing it for himself is something else entirely. An underrated and mildly ironic line from this scene is Morpheus saying that Neo can be very brave when he thinks it is not real. It alludes to even Neo having doubts about the fight he is headed into.

2 “There Is No Spoon.”

Said By Spoon Boy | The Matrix

An understated, but strangely famous illustration of the characters’ power over the artificial reality of the Matrix is the simple statement to stop trying to bend the spoon because “there is no spoon.” Amid the Oracle’s muddled predictions and Morpheus’ absolute fate, this lesson is perhaps the one Neo needs to internalize the most, and comes from a surprising source. It is a moral that he comes back to many times, that in a story characterized by a confusing dichotomy between fate and free will, he must focus on what he can control — which, in the Matrix, is everything.

1 “You Take The Red Pill, You Stay In Wonderland, And I Show You How Deep The Rabbit Hole Goes.”

Said By Morpheus | The Matrix

Nothing associated with The Matrix is more iconic than the choice between the blue pill and the red pill; to deny a terrifying reality for some sense of comfort and peace or give up everything and discover the truth. However, the scene lands perfectly because of Morpheus’ way with words and metaphors and Fishburne’s delivery. The Matrix demonstrates a certain blend of fantasy and sci-fi with mythological references and comparisons to Alice in Wonderland — in this instance, the literary reference perfectly illustrates how trippy the story is about to become, making it the franchise’s best quote.

• 

  The Matrix

  In a dystopian future, hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves) learns about the Matrix, a simulated reality hiding the truth of humanity’s enslavement by machines. He joins rebels led by the mysterious Morpheus, who believes Neo is destined to free humanity. Betrayal leads to a deadly confrontation with villain Agent Smith as Neo discovers his true power, defeats his enemies, and promises to change the world.

  Director

  Lilly Wachowski , Lana Wachowski

  Release Date

  March 30, 1999

  Runtime

  136 minutes

• 

  The Matrix Reloaded

  Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus continue to wage war against the machines and search for the source of the Matrix.

  Director

  Lana Wachowski , Lilly Wachowski

  Release Date

  May 15, 2003

  Runtime

  138 Minutes

• 

  The Matrix Revolutions

  The Matrix Revolutions is the third installment of the Wachowskis’ famous sci-fi saga. The movie picks up where the previous film “The Matrix Reloaded” left off, with Neo (Keanu Reeves) trapped in between the simulation and the real world. Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Monica Bellucci, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Lambert Wilson reprise their roles once again for the threequel.

  Director

  Lilly Wachowski

  Release Date

  October 27, 2003

  Runtime

  129 Minutes

• 

  The Matrix Resurrections

  Set sixty years after The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Resurrections is a sci-fi action movie that sees the return of Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne moss nearly twenty years after the release of the previous film. Neo has become a game developer who struggles to grasp reality, and his concerns are validated when a new visage of Morpheus arrives to free him from his prison – a newly created Matrix. Learning that Trinity is alive and being held prisoner, Neo will join a new rebel force to save her and confront a new, dangerous foe known as the Analyst.

  Director

  Lana Wachowski

  Release Date

  December 22, 2021

  Cast

  Christina Ricci , Keanu Reeves , Carrie-Anne Moss , Jessica Henwick , Ellen Hollman , Jonathan Groff

  Runtime

  2h 28m

• The Animatrix

  A collection of animated shorts set in the world of The Matrix.

  Director

  Peter Chung , Andy Jones , Yoshiaki Kawajiri , Takeshi Koike , Mahiro Maeda , Kôji Morimoto

  Release Date

  May 9, 2003

  Cast

  Akio Otsuka , Clayton Watson , Pamela Adlon , Hedy Burress , Terrence Carson , Melinda Clarke

  Runtime

  102 minutes