Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones in 'Sex and the City'

The 10 Greatest Samantha Jones Quotes From ‘SATC:’ Racy But Reflective

Josh Lezmi
By Josh Lezmi
Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones in 'Sex and the City'
Josh Lezmi
By Josh Lezmi
Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones in 'Sex and the City'

Samantha Jones boasts some quotes to live by in ‘Sex and the City.’ Here are our favorites.

Samantha Jones — with a quick tongue, an admirable air of independence, and a sexually liberated mentality — quickly became a beloved staple of Sex and the City. She brought much of the “sex” that the title so clearly alludes to. She was confident and unafraid to rock a dress with a slit cut down to there or a little bedazzled glamour that ageist members of proper society would deem inappropriate. She would strut down a red carpet with shoulders back in five-inch heels — ready to fire a quippy remark at anyone who dared to scoff. Her absence in And Just Like That… leaves a gaping black hole where saucy escapades and jaw-dropping one-liners used to be. While the show has added some new faces — like Seema, Nya, and Lisa — no one can step into Samantha’s stilettos and deliver that same sashay she employed to sink into our hearts. 

Though Samantha is not in And Just Like That — sans a very brief appearance in the season 2 finale — we don’t need a reason to reminisce about her greatest moments. So, let’s turn back the clock to the late ‘90s and early 2000s and spotlight Samantha’s most memorable lines. 

“I love you, but I love me more.”

Samantha had several romantic partners — and memorable one-night thrills — throughout Sex and the City. However, she never sacrificed her identity for a man. She never put her happiness (or her career) behind someone else’s. She was content to be alone and self-realized rather than coupled, but as the shell of a woman she could be. She loved herself the most, and this is a lesson many of us could learn from.

“I’m the try-sexual, honey. I’ll try anything once.”

This may be one of Samantha’s most-quoted lines, as it perfectly captures her sexually adventurous spirit. Samantha was never timid in the bedroom, nor was she timid went it came to explaining her encounters in vivid, photographic detail. She did not subscribe to the sexist and misogynistic idea that women should be “vanilla” and/or sexually hesitant, as to suggest purity and respectability. She knew that was a load of crap, and her sex life only furthered her glorious feminist characterization. 

“Men cheat for the same reason that dogs lick their balls… because they can.”

Though this quote isn’t exactly male-friendly — as it likens the male member of our species to the canine — it’s not totally unfounded. Men are statistically more likely to cheat than women. While there may be multiple reasons at play, the fact remains that some people will cheat if they know they will get away with it — regardless of the status of their marriage. Samantha never shied away from a tough pill to swallow. In short, the ignorance is bliss approach and Samantha Jones do not coexist. 

“A guy gets angry in a meeting, he’s a pistol. A woman, she’s emotional.”

Samantha was a powerful businesswoman; thus, she faced the rampant sexist and patriarchal standards that define the corporate world one too many times in Sex and the City. She understood the standards were different for her. She understood that emotionality in the office is passion and determination concerning men, but hormonal and unpredictable concerning women. And, as Samantha does, she called it out. 

“I will not be judged by you or society. I will wear whatever I want and blow whomever I want as long as I can breathe and kneel.”

This quote surfaces in a conversation between Carrie and Samantha a few scenes after Carrie walks in on Samantha giving a blowjob to a delivery guy — and allows an expression of judgment to crawl across her face. Samantha’s statement is powerful and succinct. It may be racy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not pointed. She knows that she will come up against people whose standards for behavior are rooted in antiquated notions that deserve to be put to rest, but that doesn’t mean she will deal with it or allow such ideas to flourish uncontested. 

“I am fifty-f*cking-two and I will rock this dress.”

As Samantha’s selecting a dress for a red carpet premiere, an innocent saleswoman asks her, “Is that maybe a little young?” And well, in Samantha fashion, she puts her in her place. There is no age limit on fashion. Wear what you want. You have one life to live, and you might as well live it in a designer gown that makes people stare and swoon. Eat your hearts out 20-somethings; Samantha is going to show you up. 

“F*ck me badly once, shame on you. F*ck me badly twice, shame on me.”

A more risque take on “Fool me once…” this is Samantha at her Samantha-est. She has no time in life for bad sex. Once: How was she supposed to know? Twice: How did she delude herself into thinking round two would be any better than round one?! We only have so many pleasures in a life filled with woes, so the sex better be mindblowing. 

“I don’t believe in the Republican party or the Democratic party. I just believe in parties.”

While this stance in today’s ultra-divided political climate may sound uninformed or unaware, it’s a total Samantha line that gets her out of a political conversation she does not want to have and returns the discussion to levity. It’s not that she doesn’t have an opinion or that she isn’t knowledgeable. Rather, she understands the tried-and-true adage of “time and place” and doesn’t care to get wrapped up in such heated discourse when she’s trying to have a good time. 

“Oh, please! There’s always a contest with an ex, it’s called who will die miserable.” 

Exes. We all have ‘em. We may still have a little love for ‘em. We may still hold a little resentment. And at the end of the day, we all want to be the one who comes out on top…first. Who finds new love. Who succeeds. There’s a contest we can’t deny between split partners. There’s a race. The finish line: whoever finds happiness first in the absence of the other. Once again, Samantha says it like it is. 

“I am not the type of woman who sits home all day waiting for a man.” 

Samantha prepares handmade Sushi for her movie star boyfriend, Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis), and lays it all across her naked body to surprise him when he comes home. The problem: he shows up three hours late, she’s eaten some sushi, she’s put on clothes, and she’s pissed. She says this line — both admonishing Jason and reminding herself of the woman she is. She is not a housewife who prepares food while hubby slaves at the office…and she never will be. No man will ever turn her into a woman she does not yearn to be. 

Josh is an entertainment writer and editor at Thought Catalog.