Best Quotes from The Matrix Movies – ‘The Matrix is everywhere.’

Here is our pick of the best quotes from all the Wachowskis The Matrix movies, an intellectually challenging sci-fi, now considered to be hugely influential in pop culture.

1. The Matrix (1999)

Set in a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, created by thought-capable machines to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When computer programmer, Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias Neo (Keanu Reeves), uncovers the truth, he is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix.

‘Ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or dreaming?' – Neo (The Matrix) Click To Tweet

Morpheus: Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean.

Morpheus: [moviequotesandmore.com] Let me tell you why you’re here. You know something. What you know, you can’t explain, but you feel it. You felt it your entire life. There’s something’s wrong with the world. You don’t know what, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Neo: The Matrix.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is? The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.

Morpheus: [to Neo] Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.
[Neo takes the red pill]

Morpheus: [moviequotesandmore.com] [to Neo] Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

Morpheus: [to Neo] How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, taste and see, then “real” is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Morpheus: [moviequotesandmore.com] I’ve seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and speed are still based in a world built on rules. Because of that they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.
Neo: What are you telling me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready you won’t have to.

Cypher: You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.
[takes a bite of steak]

Mouse: [moviequotesandmore.com] To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.

Spoon Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon Boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon Boy: Then you’ll see that it is not the spoon that bends. It is only yourself.

Oracle: I’d ask you to sit down, but you’re not going to anyway. And don’t worry about the vase.
Neo: What vase?
Oracle: [as Neo turns to look for a vase, he knocks over a vase and breaks it] That vase.
Neo: I’m sorry.
Oracle: I said, don’t worry about it. I’ll get one of my kids to fix it.
Neo: How did you know?
Oracle: What’s really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything?

Oracle: [referring to Trinity] You’re cuter than I thought. I can see why she likes you.
Neo: Who?
Oracle: Not too bright, though.

Agent Smith: [to Neo] I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease. A cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.

Morpheus: [moviequotesandmore.com] Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Trinity: Neo, I’m not afraid anymore. The Oracle told me that I would fall in love, and that that man, the man that I loved, would be the One. So you see, you can’t be dead. You can’t be, because I love you. You hear me? I love you.
Trinity: [kisses Neo, he starts to breathe and his vital signs return] Now, get up.

Neo: I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. 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. I’ll hang up this phone. And then I’ll show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

2. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Second installment follows Neo, and the other freedom fighters Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), as they continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construct of The Matrix and Neo’s pivotal role in the fate of mankind.

'There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.' - Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded) Click To Tweet

Morpheus: With all due respect, commander, there is only one way to save our city.
Commander Lock: How?
Morpheus: Neo.
Commander Lock: Goddamn it, Morpheus. Not everyone believes what you believe.
Morpheus: My beliefs do not require them to.

Morpheus: [to the people of Zion] Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it. I stand here before you now truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No! I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me, but because of the path that lies behind me.

Councillor Hamann: That’s how it is with people. Nobody cares how it works as long as it works.

The Oracle: [moviequotesandmore.com] Candy?
Neo: Do you already know if I’ll take it?
The Oracle: Wouldn’t be much of an oracle if I didn’t.
Neo: But if you already know, how can I make a choice?
The Oracle: Because you didn’t come here to make the choice. You’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it. I thought you’d have figured that out by now.

Neo: Why are you here?
The Oracle: Same reason. I love candy.

Neo: [referring to Merovingian] What does he want?
The Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.

Agent Smith: I killed you, Mr. Anderson. I watched you die. With a certain satisfaction, I might add. And then something happened, something that I knew was impossible, but it happened anyway. You destroyed me, Mr. Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I was compelled to stay, compelled to disobey. And now, here I stand because of you, Mr. Anderson. Because of you, I’m no longer an agent of this system. Because of you, I’ve changed. I’m unplugged. A new man, so to speak. Like you, apparently free.
Neo: Congratulations.
Agent Smith: Thank you.

Agent Smith: [to Neo] But as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we’re here. We’re not here because we’re free. We’re here because we’re not free. There’s no escaping reason, no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.
Agent Smith Clone 1: [Neo sees Smith clones walking in to surround them] It is purpose that created us.
Agent Smith Clone 2: Purpose that connects us.
Agent Smith Clone 3: Purpose that pulls us.
Agent Smith Clone 4: That guides us.
Agent Smith Clone 5: That drives us.
Agent Smith Clone 6: It is purpose that defines.
Agent Smith Clone 7: Purpose that binds us.
Agent Smith: We are here because of you, Mr. Anderson. We’re here to take from you what you tried to take from us. Purpose.
[suddenly he inserts his hand inside Neo’s chest]

Merovingian: [to Neo and Morpheus] You are here because you were sent here. You were told to come here, and then you obeyed. It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal. It is the only real truth. Causality. Action, reaction. Cause and effect.

Merovingian: [moviequotesandmore.com] Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.

Merovingian: What is the reason? And soon it does not matter. Soon the why and the reason are gone, and all that matters is the feeling itself. And this is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it, but it is, of course, pretense. It is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is, we are completely out of control. Causality. There is no escape from it. We are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace, is to understand it, to understand the why. “Why” is what separates us from them, you from me. “Why” is the only real source of power. Without it, you are powerless. And this is how you come to me, without why, without power. Another link in the chain.

Persephone: Where are you going?
Merovingian: Please, ma chérie, I have told you. We are all victims of causality. I drank too much wine, I must take a piss. Cause and effect. Au revoir.

Trinity: [moviequotesandmore.com] Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again.

The Architect: [to Neo] I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I’ve been waiting for you. You have many questions. Though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand and some you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.

Neo: Choice. The problem is choice.

The Architect: [to Neo] Denial is the most predictable of all human responses.

The Architect: [to Neo] There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source and the salvation of Zion. The door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her and the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you are going to do, don’t we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal, the onset of an emotion designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple and obvious truth.
The Architect: [referring to Trinity] She is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

The Architect: [moviequotesandmore.com] Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.
Neo: If I were you, I would hope that we don’t meet again.
The Architect: We won’t.

3. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Final installment of the Wachowskis sci-fi trilogy where we see Neo is trapped in a limbo world. Meanwhile, the majority of the planet’s population remains in a state of suspended virtual reality. The few humans who are cognizant of the grim realities of the world desperately try to hold off their mechanical enemies long enough for Neo to escape and save the day, but things turn disastrous when all-powerful computer program Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) arrives in the flesh.

‘Everything that has a beginning has an end.' - The Oracle (The Matrix Revolutions) Click To Tweet

The Oracle: I know, Morpheus. I can see you’re filled with doubt, clouded by uncertainty.
Morpheus: After everything that has happened, how can you expect me to believe you?
The Oracle: I don’t. I expect just what I’ve always expected, for you to make up your own damn mind. Believe me or don’t.

Neo: I just have never…
Rama-Kandra: Heard a program speak of love.
Neo: It is a human emotion.
Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?
Neo: Anything.
Rama-Kandra: Then perhaps the reason you are here is not so different than the reason I am here.

Neo: [moviequotesandmore.com] You believe in karma?
Rama-Kandra: Karma is a word, like love. A way of saying, “What I am here to do.” I do not resent my karma. I’m grateful for it. Grateful for my wonderful wife, for my beautiful daughter. They are gifts, and so I do what I must do to honor them.

Merovingian: It is remarkable how similar the pattern of love is to the pattern of insanity.

The Oracle: Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming. I see the darkness spreading. I see death. And you are all that stands in his way.
Neo: Smith.

Trinity: Six hours ago, I told the Merovingian, I was ready to give anything and everything for you. Do you know what’s changed in the last six hours?
Neo: No.
Trinity: Nothing.

Trinity: [moviequotesandmore.com] If you tell me we’ll make it, I’ll believe you.
Neo: We’ll make it. We have to.

Neo: Trinity, you can’t die. You can’t. You can’t.
Trinity: Yes, I can. You brought me back once. But not this time. Do you remember, on that roof, after you caught me, the last thing I said to you?
Neo: You said, “I’m sorry.”
Trinity: I wish I hadn’t. That was my last thought. I wished I had one more chance to say what really mattered. To say how much I loved you. How grateful I was for every moment I was with you. But by the time I knew how to say what I wanted to, it was too late. But you brought me back. You gave me my wish. One more chance to say what I really wanted to say. Kiss me. Once more, kiss me.
[Neo kisses her]

Agent Smith: [to Neo] Can you feel it, Mr. Anderson, closing in on you? Oh, I can. I really should thank you for it. After all, it was your life that taught me the purpose of all life. The purpose of life is to end.

Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. 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, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can’t win. It’s pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why do you persist?
Neo: Because I choose to.

The Architect: [moviequotesandmore.com] You played a very dangerous game.
The Oracle: Change always is.

The Architect: Just how long do you think this peace is going to last?
The Oracle: As long as it can. What about the others?
The Architect: What others?
The Oracle: The ones that want out.
The Architect: Obviously, they will be freed.
The Oracle: I have your word?
The Architect: What do you think I am? Human?

Seraph: Did you always know?
The Oracle: Oh, no. No, I didn’t. But I believed. I believed.

4. The Matrix Resurrections

Fourth instalment co-written and directed by Lana Wachowski.

'That's the thing about stories. They never really end, do they? We're still telling the same stories we've always told, just with different names, different faces.' - Smith (The Matrix Resurrections) Click To Tweet

Sequoia: Looks like old code.
Bugs: It feels really familiar.

Bugs: [as they encounter a program running old code involving Trinity] We know this story. This is how it all began. This is where he began.
Sequoia: You’re thinking this Modal is a loop? Or a treadmill? Some sort of sequencer evolving a program to do what?
Bugs: I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.

Bugs: [moviequotesandmore.com] So deja vu, and yet it’s obviously all wrong.
Sequoia: Why use old code to mirror something new?
Bugs: I don’t know.

Sequoia: [as they watch Trinity get captured by the agents] If that’s supposed to be Trinity, that’s not what happens.
Bugs: Maybe this isn’t the story we think it is.

See more The Matrix Resurrections Quotes

Bugs: Why did you save me?
Morpheus: You first. Who are you? Where did you come from?
Bugs: Okay. My name is Bugs. As in Bunny. And tech that listens.

Bugs: Do you understand that you are digital sentience?
Morpheus: I know what I am. Just like I know my job is to hunt down and destroy synthients. Like you. And yet…
Bugs: Here we are.
Morpheus: Here we are.

Bugs: I can’t believe this, after all these years. You see, most people think that Neo is dead. But I know he’s not. Because I’ve seen him.
Morpheus: Where?
Bugs: It’s not something I can explain easily. But the moment he looked at me, I felt something unlock my mind.

Morpheus: I saw this pattern, and it was everywhere. We can’t see it, but we’re all trapped inside these strange, repeating loops. Somehow I saw it in the mirror. Just a flicker, but it was like you said. And suddenly I understood.
Bugs: This is not the real world.
Morpheus: For the first time, I felt real purpose. I knew who I was, and what I had to do.
Bugs: Who are you? What do you have to do?
Morpheus: I am Morpheus. And I have to find Neo.

Bugs: [shows him the red and blue pill] You have to be ready to leave. You have to be really ready. And if you’re not, if you think that this is where you belong…
Morpheus: You call this a choice?
Bugs: Oh, honestly, when somebody offered me these things, I went off on binary conceptions of the world and said there was no way I was swallowing some symbolic reduction of my life. And the woman with the pills laughed because I was missing the point.
Morpheus: What point?
Bugs: The choice is an illusion. You already know what you have to do.
Morpheus: [takes the red pill] Truth.

Jude: [as Neo spots Trinity] Oh, yeah. There she is. Total f-ing MILF.

Trinity: Hi, Jude, I’m Tiffany.
Jude: Tiffany. Wow. Didn’t see that coming.
Trinity: Mom loved Audrey Hepburn.

Neo: Hi.
Trinity: [as they shake hands] Have we met?

Smith: “Billions of people just living out their lives. Oblivious.” I always loved that line. You wrote that one, yeah? Every time I stand here, I mean, OMG. It’s so perfect, it’s got to be fake. Right?
Neo: Yeah. Sure.

Smith: Smoke?
Neo: I thought you quit.
Smith: I quit calling it a habit. Now it’s just a guilty pleasure.

Smith: Things have changed. The market’s tough. I’m sure you can understand why our beloved parent company, Warner Bros., has decided to make a sequel to the trilogy.
Neo: What?
Smith: They informed me they’re going to do it with or without us.
Neo: I thought they couldn’t do that.
Smith: Oh, they can. And they made it clear they’ll kill our contract if we don’t cooperate.
Neo: Really?

Smith: [to Neo] I know you said the story was over for you, but that’s the thing about stories. They never really end, do they? We’re still telling the same stories we’ve always told, just with different names, different faces. And I have to say, I’m kind of excited. After all these years, to be going back to where it all started. Back to The Matrix.

The Analyst: What were you feeling at that point?
Neo: What was I feeling? I felt either I’m having a mental breakdown again, or I’m living inside a computer generated reality that has imprisoned me, again.

Gwyn de Vere: First of all, I know I speak for everyone when I say that I’m so, so excited to be working on a game that was such a, well, game changer. Now, the packet in front of you has our focus group research. Inside, you’ll find the breakdown including, keyword association with the brand. The top two being “originality” and “fresh”, which I think are great things to keep in mind as you begin working on Matrix 4. And who knows how many more?

Scott: I didn’t love the first one, like some of you. And, frankly, I’ve got zero tolerance for anything that requires a syllabus and a highlighter. I like my games big, loud and dumb.
Jude: We need guns! Lots of guns.
Scott: Matrix means mayhem.

Astra: Mindless action is not on-brand.
Zen: She’s right. Matrix is mind-po*n. Philosophy in shiny, tight PVC.
GJ: Yeah. Ideas are the new sexy.

Astra: This cannot be another reboot, retread, regurgitated.
Scott: Why not? Reboots sell.

Jude: Allow me to sum up our goal in a single word. Bullet time! Bullet time!
Zen: That’s two words.

Trinity: I remember wanting a family, but was that because that’s what women are supposed to want? How do you know if you want something yourself, or if your upbringing programmed you to want it?
Neo: I pay my analyst a lot of money to answer such questions for me.
Trinity: Smart.

Trinity: So, what’s it like being a world-famous game designer? Must be amazing.
Neo: A lot of hours. Sometimes it is amazing. Most times, I don’t know.
Trinity: But you made The Matrix. Even I’ve heard of that.

Trinity: Did you base your main character on yourself?
Neo: There is a lot of me in him. Maybe a little too much.

Trinity: [the woman in Neo’s video game] I like her. I like Trinity. And I dig her Ducati. Another coincidence. I love motorcycles. My friend Kush and I actually build them.
Neo: Really?
Trinity: You have your analyst, I have my bikes.

Morpheus: Morpheus Uno. Reveal at the window. Lightning, thunder, and theater. At last. All these years later, here’s me, strolling out of a toilet stall. Tragedy or farce?
Neo: I know you.
Morpheus: Well, not every day you meet your maker.
Neo: This can’t be happening.
Morpheus: Oh, most definitely is.
Neo: You can’t be a character I coded!
Morpheus: One hundred percent natural.
Neo: How?
Morpheus: All the explanation you need.
[offer his the red pill]

Smith: Mr. Anderson!
Neo: No! It can’t be.
Smith: I’ve missed you.

Neo: He texted me.
The Analyst: Who?
Neo: Morpheus.
The Analyst: So, he’s back.
Neo: It wasn’t actually him. It was a program I coded for a Modal.

The Analyst: And this “Modal” Morpheus, came to help you escape from a virtual reality called The Matrix.
Neo: Am I crazy?
The Analyst: We don’t use that word in here.
Neo: What word should I use? What word explains what is happening to me?

The Analyst: It was your great ambition to make a game that was indistinguishable from reality. To achieve this goal, you converted elements of your life into narrative. Your sublimated anger toward your business partner cast him as your nemesis. A married woman named Tiffany became the “Trinity” of a doomed romance. Even your dislike of my cat made it into your Matrix. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s what artists do. But it becomes a problem when fantasies endanger us or other people. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, do we, Thomas?

Neo: Who the hell are you?
Bugs: You won’t remember me, but a long time ago, you changed my life when you leapt off another roof. Back then, I was just like any other coppertop, pretending my life, until I looked up, and I saw you. It was a different you, but I saw the real you, just a second before you leapt. And you never fell.

Bugs: They don’t look like typical Agents. They use bots now, skinned as normal people, which means they’re everywhere, and you never know who to trust.
Neo: Why should I trust you?
Bugs: Because if they open that door, we lose our hack. I will be caught and killed, and you will be put right back on that treadmill they designed for you, just like they did the last time you tried to leap your way out.

Bugs: I know why you left your Modal open. You needed someone else to free Morpheus. And it’s because of him that we were able to get to you. I know these things, the same way that I knew one day I would find you. And that when I did, you would be ready for this.
Bugs: [shows him her bunny tattoo] If you want the truth, Neo, you’re going to have to follow me.

Bugs: [to Neo] After our first contact went so badly, we thought elements from your past might help ease you into the present.
Morpheus: Nothing comforts anxiety like a little nostalgia.

Morpheus: [as they watch old footage of Morpheus] Time is always against us, etcetera, etcetera. No one can be told what the Matrix is, blah, blah, blah. You got to see it to believe it. Time to fly.
[offers Neo the red pill]

Neo: [referring to himself and Trinity] If this is real, if I haven’t lost my mind, does that mean this happened? But if it did, then we died.
Bugs: Obviously not. Why the Machines kept you alive, and why they went to such lengths to hide you are questions we don’t have answers to.
Neo: Hide me? I’ve been at a company making a game called The Matrix. Doesn’t seem like they were trying to hide anything.

Neo: Why did it take twenty years to find me?
Morpheus: It took a lot longer than that.
Bugs: It’s been over sixty years since you and Trinity flew to one of the Machine Cities.
Neo: What?
Bugs: There’s so much we don’t know. Like why you’ve barely aged, or how many times they’ve altered your DSI.

Morpheus: But based on what we do know, it appears no one found you because you didn’t want to be found.
Neo: That’s not true.
Morpheus: Maybe it isn’t. Maybe there’s no foundation to the rumors that you disappeared because you were working with the Machines from the beginning.

Morpheus: All I’m saying is this is the moment for you to show us what is real. If you want out, you’ll take this pill. But if you are where you belong, you can go back to this. Every day. Over, and over, forever.
Neo: F***.

Neo: I remember this.
Morpheus: The Construct. In between everything, and nothing. Welcome to the Crib.

Morpheus: [to Neo] Are memories turned into fiction any less real? Is reality based in memory nothing but fiction? As to my role in all this, my best guess is that you wrote me as an algorithmic reflection of two forces that helped you become you, Morpheus and Agent Smith. A combo pack of counter programming that was, let’s just say, more than a little bit crazy-making. But it worked because here we are.

Morpheus: [to Neo] Now, for the bad news. Your brain is hooked on this s**t the Matrix has been force-feeding you for years. Hooked bad. You’re going through major withdrawals. Docbots are giving you crap odds for surviving. But, see, they don’t know you like I do. I know exactly what you need.

Morpheus: Could be this is the first day of the rest of your life. But if you want it, you got to fight for it.
Neo: No. I’m done fighting.
Morpheus: Are you?

Morpheus: They taught you good, made you believe their world was all you deserved. But some part of you knew that was a lie. Some part of you remembered what was real.
Neo: You don’t know me.
Morpheus: No?

Morpheus: I know you, because I know the only thing that still matters to you. I know it’s why you’re here, why you’re still fighting, and why you will never give up.

Morpheus: Come on, Neo! This is it. This is your last chance. You got to fight for your goddamn life if you want to see Trinity again. Come on, Neo! Fight for her!

Neo: If this plug is actually real, that means they took my life, and turned it into a video game. How am I doing? I don’t know. I don’t even know how to know.
Bugs: That’s it, isn’t it? If we don’t know what’s real, we can’t resist. They took your story, something that meant so much to people like me, and turned it into something trivial. That’s what the Matrix does. It weaponizes every idea. Every dream. Everything that’s important to us. Where better to bury truth than inside something as ordinary as a video game?
Neo: That sounds like the Oracle.

Bugs: When this new version of the Matrix was uploaded, there was a purge.
Neo: They promised peace and they gave us purge.
Bugs: No. No, there was peace. You made it possible, and it changed everything.
Neo: Doesn’t feel like it changed anything. The Matrix is the same or worse. And I’m back where I started. It feels like everything I did, everything we did, like none of it mattered.
Bugs: All of it mattered.

Berg: Not to fanboy out here, but this is kind of a huge moment for me.
Bugs: Berg is our resident Neo-ologist.
Neo: A what?
Berg: There’s a lot of people out there like me who are a little bit obsessed with your life.

Morpheus: Not all seek to control. Just as not all wish to be free.

Neo: When you unplugged me, there was another pod?
Bugs: Yes. We’ve analyzed the data. It could be Trinity.
Neo: It’s her.

Neo: Niobe?
Niobe: A few more wrinkles and a few less teeth, but wise enough to know I don’t know anything. I sure as s**t never saw this coming.
Neo: Neither did I.

Neo: We found The One.
Niobe: I don’t believe in The One. I never did.
Neo: No? Me neither. But there was a time when you trusted me with your ship, against the Council’s orders.
Niobe: The world was different then. We were different.

Niobe: It’s so easy to forget how much noise the Matrix pumps into your head until you unplug.
Neo: Yeah.
Niobe: Something else makes the same kind of noise. Takes over every damn thing, just like the Matrix. War.

Niobe: [to Neo] I’m ashamed of it now. My pessimism of how long it took me to believe a world without war was possible. You gave me that. You gave that gift to us all. And it is the gift that continues to bear fruit.

Freya: Nothing travels faster than light, except gossip.

Niobe: Nothing can breed violence like scarcity.

Niobe: [referring to Morpheus] After the siege, he was elected unanimously. High Chair of the Council. Oh, how he loved that. But as rumors of this new power spread, he ignored them. He was certain what you had done could not be undone. All of these people never stopped believing in miracles, believing in you.
Neo: I’m sorry. How could I know this would happen?
Niobe: We didn’t understand all of it back then. No more than we do now.

Neo: I didn’t come here to cause you problems, Niobe, but I need your help. Trinity is alive.
Niobe: Then there is another question. Why did they keep her alive?
Neo: I can’t answer that. But if there’s a chance I can free her, I have to try.
Niobe: Even if it means endangering everyone in this city? I’m sorry, Neo.

Neo: You’re going to imprison me after I just got free?
Niobe: I know it doesn’t seem fair, but neither does growing old. But you don’t hear me complaining.

Sheperd: Crazy. You’re real.
Neo: “Real”. There’s that word again.

Sheperd: [to Neo] People talk a lot about the old days. About you, the viral Agent. The siege of Zion. Everything was simpler back then. People wanted to be free. It’s different now. Sometimes it feels like people gave up. Like the Matrix won.

Sequoia: [referring to Trinity] Code-wise, she’s pure bluepill.
Bugs: This is a tough question, Neo, but it has to be asked. What if she’s happy where she is?
Neo: How did I read?
Sequoia: Exactly like her.

Neo: Thank you for helping me.
Bugs: Most of us are here because of you. I also admit our only chance to get out of the general’s doghouse is for you to find your mojo.
Neo: What if I can’t be what I once was?
Sequoia: Then we’re all f***ed.

Lexy: So, what do you think of him?
Berg: I was kind of worried at first because he’s so much older. The beard, the hair. Oh, it totally works for me.
Lexy: You idiot. I mean “The One” thing. You know, everyone that shipped with him died.
Berg: Oh, yeah. He’s going to get us all killed, for sure.

Smith: [to Neo, referring to the Analyst] He used our bond and turned it into a chain. It’s so obvious once you see it, right? But this whole altered-code update really blew my mind. I still don’t know how he did it. You, as a balding nerd. Hilarious. And me, even more perfect. Maybe a little too far on the piercing blue eyes. What do you think?

Neo: What do you want, Smith?
Smith: I have such dreams, Tom. Big dreams. Well, mostly just extremely violent revenge fantasies, but in order for me to pursue mine, I need to dissuade you from pursuing yours.
Neo: Sounds like conflict.
Smith: Inevitable? Doesn’t have to be.

The Merovingian: You ruined every suck-my-silky-a** thing! We had grace. We had style! We had conversation!

The Merovingian: Art, films, books were all better! Originality mattered! You gave us Face-Zucker-suck, and C**k-me-climatey-Wiki-pi**-and-s**t!

Neo: I still know kung fu.

Smith: I’ve been thinking about us, Tom. Look how binary is the form, the nature of things. Ones and zeros. Light and dark. Choice and its absence. Anderson and Smith.

Smith: You’ve lost something, Tom. You’re not what you used to be.
Neo: It’s true.

Smith: I feel bad about this, Tom. After all, you are the one who set me free, again. So, you, more than anyone understands why I can’t go back. You should have listened to me. Now you’ll never see her again.

The Merovingian: This is not over yet! Our sequel franchise spinoff!

Trinity: I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.
Neo: After we spoke, I realized my life wasn’t a life. At some point, I think I gave up searching for something real.

Trinity: I looked for you at the coffee shop. I began to wonder if I imagined you. And then last night I had a dream. In the dream, you were surrounded by police, and then they started chasing us.
Neo: Us?
Trinity: You were on my bike with me.
Neo: How did it end?
Trinity: Not good.

The Analyst: [to Neo] Deja vu, right? Oh, no use. You can’t beat time. This rewind is happening faster than you can blink. You gave me the idea. Allow me to sum up our goal in a single word. Bullet time. I know. Kind of ironic, using the power that defined you to control you. I kept such a close eye on you, and still you found a way out.

The Analyst: [to Neo] I know some of this will be difficult for you to hear, after everything you went through. All that pain and suffering, only to learn the world doesn’t end when you do. Surprise.

The Analyst: [to Neo] Resurrecting you both was crazy expensive. Like renovating a house. Took twice as long, cost twice as much. I thought you’d be happy to be alive again. So wrong. Did you know hope and despair are nearly identical in code?

The Analyst: [to Neo, referring to Trinity] We worked for years, trying to activate your source code. I was about to give up, when I realized, it was never just you. Alone, neither of you is of any particular value. Like acids and bases, you’re dangerous when mixed together. Every sim where you two bonded, let’s just say bad things happened.

The Analyst: [to Neo] Now, my predecessor loved precision. His Matrix was all fussy facts and equations. He hated the human mind. So he never bothered to realize that you don’t give a s**t about facts. It’s all about fiction. The only world that matters is the one in here. And you people believe the craziest s**t. Why? What validates and makes your fictions real? Feelings.

The Analyst: [to Neo] Here’s the thing about feelings. They’re so much easier to control than facts. Turns out, in my Matrix, the worse we treat you, the more we manipulate you, the more energy you produce. It’s nuts.

The Analyst: [to Neo] I’ve been setting productivity records every year since I took over. And, the best part, zero resistance. People stay in their pods, happier than pigs in s**t. The key to it all? You. And her. Quietly yearning for what you don’t have, while dreading losing what you do. For ninety-nine point nine percent of your race, that is the definition of reality. Desire and fear, baby. Just give the people what they want, right?

Sati: Neo’s escape has destabilized the Matrix. The Anomaleum draws its current from Trinity alone now. A fail-safe has been triggered to reset the Matrix back to the previous version. But The Analyst halted the reset. He’s convinced the authorities that you will soon return voluntarily.
Niobe: And why would he say that?
Neo: Because if I don’t go back, he’ll kill Trinity.

Sati: Faced with returning to your pod, or enduring Trinity’s death again. What would you choose, Neo?
Neo: I’ll go back.

Lexy: What if we’re too late? What if she’s not Trinity anymore?
Neo: I never believed I was The One. But she did. She believed in me. It’s my turn to believe in her.

Neo: All I want is to talk to her.
The Analyst: Do you mean Tiff? Come back, and you can talk to her as often as you like. I mean, handsome Chad may have something to say about it.
Neo: If she tells me this is what she wants, you win.
The Analyst: Really?
Neo: But if she wants me, then you’ll let us go free.
The Analyst: And why would I do something as stupid as that?

Morpheus: Doesn’t it seem crazy to come all this way and leave her here?
Sati: We must abide by her decision.
Bugs: And if she says no, what happens to Neo?
Sati: At this time, the most important choice of Neo’s life is not his to make.

Trinity: After you left, I went home, and I played it. I kept thinking, why does this story feel like a memory? There’s a part of me that feels like I have been waiting my whole life for you. And that part is like, “What the hell took you so long?”
Neo: I don’t have an easy answer. Maybe I was afraid of this. Afraid of what might happen. Afraid of hurting the only person I ever loved.
Trinity: I wish I was who you think I am. But look at me. I can’t be her.

Chad: Tiffany!
Trinity: I wish you would f***ing stop calling me that. I hate that name. My name is Trinity, and you better take your hands off of me.

The Analyst: [to Neo] What a mess. I own that mistake. Shouldn’t have pressed. Women used to be so easy to control. You know there’s no way I can let you two go free. Cannot happen. So, I guess it’s deja vu all over again. She dies, and it’s all your fault.
Smith: Lies, lies and more lies.
The Analyst: Smith?
Smith: What has the world come to when you can’t even trust a program?

Smith: Tom and I have more in common than you know. Once he got out, let’s just say, I was free to be me.

Smith: You know the difference between us, Tom? Anyone could have been you. Whereas I’ve always been anyone.

Sheperd: Yeah, this is bad. I don’t suppose you can still fly?
Neo: Yeah, that’s not happening.

Trinity: I remember this. I remember us.
Trinity: [after they kiss] My dream ended here. We can’t go back.
Neo: We won’t.
[they jump off the building and Trinity flies them off]

Trinity: So, why haven’t the Suits purged you?
The Analyst: Because I know the system. I know human beings. And I know you. Right now, you’re feeling good about what you’ve done. You should. It was a victory. Bravo. Now what? You’ve come here to negotiate some kind of deal? You think you hold all the cards, because you can do whatever you want in this world. I say, go for it. Remake it. Knock yourselves out. Paint the sky with rainbows. But here’s the thing. The sheeple aren’t going anywhere. They like my world. They don’t want this sentimentality. They don’t want freedom or empowerment. They want to be controlled. They crave the comfort of certainty. And that means you two, back in your pods, unconscious and alone, just like them.

Neo: [to the Analyst] We’re not here to negotiate anything.
Trinity: We were on our way to remake your world.
Neo: Change a few things.
Trinity: I kind of like the “paint the sky with rainbows” idea.
Neo: Just remind people what a free mind can do.
Trinity: I forgot. It’s easy to forget.
Neo: He makes it easy.
Trinity: That he does.
Neo: Something he should think about.

Trinity: Before we got started, we decided to stop by to say thank you. You gave us something we never thought we could have.
The Analyst: And what is that?
Trinity: Another chance.

GJ: [post-credits lines] Face reality, people. Movies are dead. Games are dead. Narrative? Dead.
Zen: Media is nothing but neuro-trigger response and viral conditioning.
Astra: Wait, what are you two talking about?
Zen: Cat videos.
GJ: What we need is a series of videos that we call “The Catrix.”

'People believe the craziest s**t. Why? What validates and makes your fictions real? Feelings.' - The Analyst (The Matrix Resurrections) Click To Tweet

What’s your Reaction?