The Matrix Quotes

Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes

ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT

Source: The Matrix

Speaker: Morpheus

"You take the blue pill […] You take the red pill."

This 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. 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.

Context

This line is spoken by Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, in The Matrix (1999), directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski (1999).

The Matrix has the excellent one-two punch of being a cool action movie while being filled with fascinating philosophical concepts. Who says you can't have your metaphysics served with a side of kung fu and slow motion gun battles? And Morpheus is the cyberpunk Socrates as he teaches our protagonist, Neo, about the world of The Matrix and reality itself.

Morpheus' speech is a turning point for both Neo and the movie. If he takes the blue pill, he can go back to his boring life as the coder Thomas Anderson, but if he takes the red pill, he can find out what the world is really like. Swallowing the blue pill would make for a highly annoying anti-climactic movie so of course, he goes with the red pill.

This wonderfully delivered monologue sets us up for one heck of a journey, complete with plenty of unappetizing food, traitorous crew members, Messiah metaphors, and of course, martial arts.

Where you've heard it

When someone wants to convince you of a tough truth about the world around you.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Unless you're in philosophy class, don't use this quote. And maybe be careful with it, even in philosophy class.