Our list of best quotes from Netflix’s titillating and sumptuous period romantic drama, Bridgerton, inspired by Julia Quinn’s novels, created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes. The story is set during the Regency era in England and centers on the close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family as they attempt to find love. You can get a copy of the book here!
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Season 1 Quotes
Daphne Bridgerton: You have no idea what it is to be a woman, what it might feel like to have one’s entire life reduced to a single moment. This is all I have been raised for. This is all I am. I have no other value. If I am unable to find a husband, I shall be worthless.
Lady Whistledown: It is only the Queen’s eye that matters today. A glimmer of displeasure, and a young lady’s value plummets to unthinkable depths.
Lady Whistledown: It has been said that, “Of all b**ches dead or alive, a scribbling woman is the most canine.” If that should be true, then this author would like to show you her teeth. My name is Lady Whistledown. You do not know me, and rest assured, you never shall. But be forewarned, dear reader, I certainly know you.
Francesca Bridgerton: [referring to Simon] He does have a presence about him.
Eloise Bridgerton: If rakish dukes were one’s thing.
Daphne Bridgerton: You presume Lady Whistledown…
Simon Basset: I presume she’ll deem us to be what we are. Me, unavailable. You, desirable.
Simon Basset: If this is to work, we must appear madly in love.
Daphne Bridgerton: It is an absurd plan.
Simon Basset: I find it quite brilliant. Provided you do not wish to marry me, and I do not wish to marry you. Whatever should you have to lose?
Eloise Bridgerton: So Daphne may be in love. Does she think it an accomplishment? What exactly has she accomplished then? She certainly did not build that man, or bake him. He simply showed up. Now he straggles about.
Lady Whistledown: There will forever be just two words that come to this author’s mind the morning after any good party, “shock” and “delight”. Well, dear reader, the scandalous counts from last night’s soiree at Vauxhall are quite shocking, and delightful indeed.
Simon Basset: I have no interest in causing a scandal, Miss Bridgerton.
Daphne Bridgerton: I should imagine with you it comes naturally.
Eloise Bridgerton: Having a nice face and pleasant hair is not an accomplishment.
Simon Basset: Should I not be courting your sister?
Lord Anthony Bridgerton: No. And I can think of dozens of reasons why. Starting with, “She is my sister,” and ending with, “She is already engaged to be married.” And then perhaps, circling back to, “She is my sister.”
Penelope Featherington: [referring to Marina’s pregnancy] Your condition? Marina, may I ask? How did it happen?
Marina Thompson: Cake.
Eloise Bridgerton: Suppose I want a different life, Benedict. That I truly believe I am quite capable of something more. Even when I am not allowed to have anything else.
Eloise Bridgerton: It must be so very difficult to want something and not be able to get it.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: You must simply marry the man who feels like your dearest friend.
Daphne Bridgerton: [referring to the painting] It is very beautiful. It reminds me of waking up in the country. First thing in the morning, when I am all alone, and I have not yet spoken to a soul. I look outside the window, and it is serene. As if I could be the only person left in the world, and yet, somehow I am not lonely. I am comforted, at peace. The others are certainly very grand and impressive. But this one, this one is intimate.
Portia Featherington: Many men make declarations of love when they want to make love. But rare is the man whose love remains true when the consequences of lovemaking are brought to his attention.
Lady Danbury: [to Simon] You allowed that young lady to slip through your fingers as if it were nothing. Queen Charlotte: You are wise, or perhaps unusually lucky to understand friendship to be the best possible foundation a marriage can have. Even if that foundation should crumble as quickly as it was built. Lady Whistledown: All is fair in love and war. But some battles leave no victor, only a trail of broken hearts that makes us wonder if the price we pay is ever worth the fight. Lady Whistledown: Is anything more exhilarating than taking a gamble? For it is often the highest risk that carries the greatest reward. Yet, wager wrongly, and you might find yourself left with nothing but regret. Daphne Bridgerton: Just because something is not perfect, does not make it any less worthy of love.
Simon Basset: What happens between a husband and a wife, well, it is a natural continuation of what happens at night.
Simon Basset: [to Daphne] When you are alone, you can touch yourself, anywhere on your body, anywhere that gives you pleasure. But especially between your legs. And when you find a feeling you particularly enjoy, you can carry on with that, until the feeling grows, and eventually you reach a pinnacle, a release. And that should help you. Come.
Eloise Bridgerton: [to Benedict] Whistledown is a woman, therefore she has nothing. And still she writes. You’re a man, therefore you have everything. You are able to do whatever you want. So do it. Be bold. At least that way I can live vicariously through you.
Simon Basset: We were never friends. I do not believe there could be a more ridiculous notion than that of us ever being friends. A young lady, barely out of her leading strings. You were a convenience. A diversion. A pretty one at that, but nothing more. Now that I’ve concluded my business in town, I shall be moving on. I suggest you do the same. You will be very happy with your prince, Miss Bridgerton.
Eloise Bridgerton: Lady Whistledown. She is up in the sky. A brilliant woman of business who fools the entire ton, whilst pocketing their money. Imagine the life she must lead. Independence. You could be assured she is not stuck simpering on the edge of a ballroom every night, praying a man might take a fancy and leg-shackle her into marriage.
Lady Danbury: [to Simon] I understand that you believe such subjects as love and devotion, affection and attachment, you find it all trite and frivolous. But have you any idea those very things are precisely what have allowed a new day to begin to dawn in this society? Look at our queen. Look at our king. Look at their marriage. Look at everything it is doing for us, allowing us to become. We were two separate societies, divided by color, until a king fell in love with one of us.
Lady Danbury: Love, Your Grace, conquers all.
Simon Basset: I believe that remains to be seen. The king may have chosen his queen. He may have elevated us from novelties in their eyes to now dukes and royalty, and at that same whim, he may just as easily change his mind. A mind, as we all know, that is hanging on by one very loose and tenuous thread. So, no, I am sorry, Lady Danbury, we are in disagreement here. Love changes nothing.
Daphne Bridgerton: [as Simon refuses to marry her after being caught kissing] I do not understand. You would rather die than marry me?
Lady Violet Bridgerton: Champagne! It sounds like “sham” and “pain”. It is quite amusing really.
Simon Basset: [after Daphne stops the duel] Daphne, you must know, if we were to wed, I can never give you children. It is your dream to be a mother, is it not? To have a household full of love and laughter, like the one you have known all your life? You deserve nothing less. You deserve everything your heart desires. But I cannot provide it for you. Nor could I ever ask such a sacrifice.
Hyacinth Bridgerton: [to Daphne] How does it feel, Sister, to be in love?
Eloise Bridgerton: Imagine leaping off a cliff and shattering on the ground. A fair analogy?
Simon Basset: It was not love at first sight, for either of us. There was attraction, certainly. At least on my part. But Miss Bridgerton thought me presumptuous, arrogant, insincere. All fair, really. And I thought her a prim young lady barely out of leading strings. Not to mention the sister of my best friend, and so romance was entirely out of the question for both of us. But in so removing it, we found something far greater. We found friendship.
Simon Basset: To meet a beautiful woman is one thing. But to meet your best friend in the most beautiful of women is something entirely apart. And it is with my sincerest apologies, I must say it took the prince coming along for me to realize I did not want Miss Bridgerton to only be my friend. I wanted her to be my wife. I want her to be my wife. And so I plead with you, not to make us wait.
Simon Basset: I cannot stop thinking of you. From the mornings you ease, to the evenings you quiet, to the dreams you inhabit. My thoughts of you never end. I am yours, Daphne. I have always been yours.
Daphne Bridgerton: Why do you think I went into that garden? If you would have only looked at me this week for longer than two seconds, you would have seen. It is you I cannot sacrifice. I burn for you.
Simon Basset: Tell me what you want.
Daphne Bridgerton: I want you.
Simon Basset: I told you I cannot give you children!
Daphne Bridgerton: “Cannot” and “will not” are two entirely different things! You chose this for yourself. You chose to lie to me.
Simon Basset: I never asked for your pity.
Daphne Bridgerton: And I never asked for your betrayal!
Daphne Bridgerton: [to Simon] You love me? No, you most certainly do not. You do not know the meaning of the word. You do not lie to the one you love. You do not trick the one you love. You do not humiliate the one you love. I may not know much, as you have made abundantly clear, but I do know one thing. I know that is not love!
Lady Whistledown: The ones we love have the power to inflict the greatest scars. For what thing is more fragile than the human heart?
Lady Whistledown: Desperate times may call for desperate measures, but I would wager many will think her actions beyond the pale. Perhaps she thought it her only option, or perhaps she knows no shame. But I ask you, can the ends ever justify such wretched means?
Daphne Bridgerton: [to Violet] You sent me out into the world no better than a fool. You taught me how to play pretend, but nothing of the realities of married life, of marital relations.
Henry Granville: It takes courage to live outside the traditional expectations of society.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: However difficult forgiving someone may be, it is necessary to move forward.
Lady Whistledown: Of all that I have imparted to you, dear reader, there is but one bit of wisdom you must heed most. One can never know the truth of a marriage hiding behind closed doors.
Lady Whistledown: And yet, to those who may still find themselves out of both choices and hope, fear not. For who knows when and where one’s fortunes may change?
Eloise Bridgerton: Sister, I suppose I should thank you.
Daphne Bridgerton: Whatever for?
Eloise Bridgerton: For being so perfect, so I do not have to be.
Lady Danbury: Pride, Your Grace, it will cost you everything and leave you with nothing.
Daphne Bridgerton: Is it different for them, men, to know whether they are in love? Everything else seems different to them.
Lady Violet Bridgerton: We chose to love each other every single day. It is a choice, dearest. One that is never too late to make.
Daphne Bridgerton: I am tired of pretending. And I cannot continue acting as if I do not love you. Because I do. I love all of you. Even the parts that you believe are too dark and too shameful. Every scar. Every flaw. Every imperfection. I love you. You may think you are too damaged and too broken to ever allow yourself to be happy, but you can choose differently, Simon. You can choose to love me as much as I love you. That should not be up to anyone else. That cannot be up to anyone else. It can only be up to you.
Simon Basset: I do not want to be alone. I know that now. But what I do not know is how to be the man you need me to be, the man you truly deserve. I do not know how to do this.
Daphne Bridgerton: You stay. You stay, and we get through this, together. If you do this, if we do this, then…
Simon Basset: Then nothing else will matter.
Lady Whistledown: [as we see Penelope is Lady Whistledown] And yet, there is no ending in sight for this author, who recently became aware of a scheme to unmask her, by one worthy opponent, indeed. Perhaps I will come forward one day. Though, you must know, dear reader, the decision shall be left entirely up to me. Yours truly, Lady Whistledown.
Daphne Bridgerton: [as Simon takes their baby in his arm] We must think of a name.
Simon Basset: Whatever it is, I believe it must begin with the letter A. We do have family traditions, do we not?
Lady Violet Bridgerton: We certainly do, Your Grace.