Barney Stinson is undoubtedly the most well-known character of the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother. In his unlikability, he is hilarious and with deep-rooted issues and a brilliant, until the end, character arc he is beloved by fans of the show.
One of the main themes of the show is love, the discovery of it, the preservation of it, and the meaning of it, Barney does not avoid this. As is the case with all things involving Barney, his takes on love are massively quotable. Here are Barney Stinson’s 10 best quotes about love. NOTE: These quotes look at true love, not his hatred towards it.
“WHEN I LET A DAY GO BY WITHOUT TALKING TO YOU, THAT DAY IS JUST NO GOOD.”
Barney so clearly loved Robin for so long throughout the show. In season 7 episode 9, this came to a head when the two hookups in a cab. Directly before that though a story is being told about a storm that was hitting New York.
At the end of this storm, we see the gang playing in the rain, and Barney and Robin are left alone outside when Barney tells Robin how much of a jerk her Dad is for not calling her and tells her “when I let a day go by without talking to you, that day is just no good.” The two nearly kiss after this but are interrupted, but Barney’s quote still rings true the message that he adores her.
“I’VE GOT YOU, I DON’T NEED TO WAIT FOR IT ANYMORE.”
Barney’s most well-known of his catalog of catchphrases in the entirety of the show is of course “Legen… wait for it… dary.” and is always a joy to hear. So in season 9 episode 1 when he just says the word “legendary” it is a surprise that becomes one of his most romantic moments.
While in the limo en route to their wedding, Robin and Barney discuss worries for their wedding and Barney exclaims he is no longer worried about wildcards. He proudly says “Our wedding is going to be legendary.” Robin inquires “No wait for it?” for Barney to ever so romantically reply “I’ve got you, I don’t need to wait for it anymore.” showing Barney found what he was waiting for all along.
“I’VE GOT YOU FOR THAT NOW.”
Barney is outspoken in his opinions on all things love, marriage, and romance-related throughout How I Met Your Mother up until the later seasons where he falls in love.
When he does fall in love, he sees his brother and his husband as his belief system in love. When it is revealed in season 9 episode 2 that James is getting a divorce, everyone expects Barney to freak out but Barney reveals to Robin he no longer needs them to believe in true love and tells her “I’ve got you for that now.” showing anyone is capable of love and believing true love exists when they find the right person.
“Underneath those lies is one true thing. One true thing that can support the weight of all the lies in the world, and that the fact that I love you."
Barney is a complex character whose troubled past has led him to rely on deceit to get through life. Even when he finds happiness in Robin, this does not change.
In season 8 episode 18, the pair get into an argument about the fact Barney lied to her about the playbook leading to Barney go on a tangent about how his whole life and their relationship is built on lies before saying “Underneath those lies is one true thing. One true thing that can support the weight of all the lies in the world, and that the fact that I love you.”
“For a long time, deep down I felt sort of, broken? But I don’t feel that way anymore.”
In the season 9 episode Unpause, Barney reaches a whole new level of drunk that allows Ted and Robin to uncover secrets about him they have never been able to figure out.
In what is not a secret, but rather an honest confession, Ted asks Barney how he feels about the wedding to which he goes on to say “For a long time, deep down I felt sort of, broken? But I don’t feel that way anymore. Robin, along with the idea that vengeance will soon be mine, has made me 100% awesome.” Barney has had issues all his life, but Robin appears to fix them, just by being his and shows the right person can help you overcome anything.
“I realized that I’m searching. Searching for what I really want in life, and you know what? I have absolutely no idea what that is.”
A quote that appears to not be about love but is completely about it, comes from season 8 episode 9 following a series of losses in Barney’s usually self-proclaimed awesome life.
Following a bad breakup with Quinn and an emptiness leftover, Barney talks to the gang saying everything he has done since the breakup is a cry for help, telling them “I realized that I’m searching. Searching for what I really want in life, and you know what? I have absolutely no idea what that is.” Barney then goes on to devise his plan to get Robin back, showing the power of love to get over the hardest times while also highlighting how devastating a breakup can be.
“I love everything about her, and I’m not a guy who says that lightly. I’m a guy who has faked love his entire life…”
In season 8 episode 6, Barney comes to help Robin break up with Nick by giving an elaborate fake speech about how they are in love with each other. The thing is, both fans and Barney know it is not fake.
“I thought love was just something idiots thought they felt, but this woman has a hold on my heart that I could not break if I wanted to — and there have been times that I wanted to.” follows up the quote above and beautifully encapsulates Barney’s feelings for Robin, and just how raw and emotional love can be.
“You and Marshall belong together. The two of you have something most people search their whole lives for and never find.”
Barney also loves his friends and has gone great lengths to make them happy at points. His belief in Marshall and Lily’s love is the epitome of that.
Barney goes to San Fransisco to confront Lily and give her a plane ticket back home saying “You and Marshall belong together. The two of you have something most people search their whole lives for and never find.” It truly shows what true love is and how it affects others.
“You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours. Forever.”
Barney may not have gotten the romantic love he deserved in Robin, but in the series finale, he does find true love.
He finds this in the form of his accidental child whom he holds in his arms and tells her “You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours. Forever.” Barney truly loves that child in one of the show’s rawest and most emotional scenes, showing anyone can find love, in all different forms.
“Sometimes you fall for someone you didn’t expect, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Doesn’t everyone deserve to be happy?”
In season 8 episode 10 Barney delivers his best, and simplest quote about love, and one of the best and nicest moments of the entire series.
When the gang is up in arms about Marshall’s Mom and Lily’s Dad getting together, Barney tells them he is happy about it saying “Sometimes you fall for someone you didn’t expect, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Doesn’t everyone deserve to be happy?” It is a quote that anyone could take on board and truly encapsulates the spontaneity and beauty of love.
