Girls: 10 Of Jessa Johansson’s Most Memorable Quotes

The show Girls follows four girls, Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna, and revolves around their evolving friendships and lives. The girls are all very different, and as priorities change, their friendships change.

Jessa is the “free spirit” of the group. Whenever she opens her mouth, it is always a surprise what she will say. Lena Dunham, the writer of this show, has really mastered writing characters that see themself very differently than the audience sees them. Here are ten of Jessa’s best quotes throughout the show.

10 “You know what the weirdest part about having a job is? You have to be there everyday, even when you don’t feel like it.”

This quote is something any person, no matter their age, can laugh at. As people age, responsibility becomes real and jobs are part of that. Jessa’s free spirit makes her hate the idea of working, and she finds it dull to live a life of routine.

This quote resonates with the carefree side of people, while also stating something we all took for granted. It can also come off privileged, but Jessa is a bit clueless and does not mean this question with malintent.

9 “I’m attracted to everyone when I first meet them. And then it wears off. It always wears off.”

This quote resonates with a lot of 20-somethings that are actively in the dating scene. It’s hard to find true love, and feels harder to now more than ever. The app Tinder was released in September of 2012, which is the year the first season of Girls was airing.

Dating changed a lot when dating online became accessible, and the girls in this show are dealing with changes in that realm of the world in realtime. Jessa’s comment here is relatable because it shows how hopeful we all are when we first meet someone, but how quickly that initial spark can die in a world of dating that feels like it’s against you.

8 “I will take care of you. I will be your crack spirit guide.”

This line is from Season 1, Episode 7, ‘Welcome To Bushwick a.k.a. The Crackcident’. The girls end up at a warehouse party in Brooklyn. After many run-ins and hilarious party happenings, Shoshanna reveals that she has smoked something and feels very amped. It ends up that Shoshanna has smoked crack.

Jessa takes on a motherly role, but it is no coincidence that she takes on this motherly role in one of the least wholesome situations. She actually ends up leaving her role, and passing the responsibility of taking care of Shoshanna with Ray.

7 “I’m going to look fifty when I’m thirty. I’m going to be so f**king fat like Nico. You know why? Because I’m going to be full of f**king experiences.”

This quote is a moment the show where Jessa’s experiences are shown out of the beautiful carefree light that they are normally portrayed in, either by her or others. It is bittersweet. Jessa obviously does what she wants when she wants, but she is aware of the consequences of living a fast life.

Jessa would not want to live a different life, but she has moments of feeling as though she is a savior or martyr by having these different experiences.

6 “I cannot be smoted. I am unsmoteable.”

Jessa is always trying to prove how strong she is. She never wants to be perceived as weak, and therefore gets into some situations that she wouldn’t otherwise. At one point, Jessa wants to get revenge on her ex, so she seduces him. She knows he has a girlfriend, but they still engage in sex.

Afterward, she kicks him out. He is so angry at her and when she yells this quote at him. She just wanted to prove how strong she was and make her ex feel awful. Her goal was to throw a wrench in his life, and that’s exactly what she did.

5 “I just bathed in a stream and then I ran through a field to dry myself.”

This moment happens at Marnie’s wedding. In the peak of stress and preparation for the ceremony, Shoshanna tells Jessa she looks whimsical/beautiful. Jessa casually answers with this, as if this is something people do all the time.

This moment highlights how Jessa’s breezy lifestyle is second nature to her, but is also very laughable to the audience who see how her easy lifestyle is written to be so over the top.

4 “I hate when people are early. It’s so vile.”

This line is reminiscent of Jessa’s prior quote about work. Jessa’s “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” attitude definitely makes her an unpunctual person. But her attitude toward punctuality and more broadly structure of life is written so well.

The girls look at her as worldly and cultured, and although she is in some ways, she also is very lost. But moments like this, when Jessa is so bothered by things that seem so normal to everyone else, will always prompt laughter.

3 “Come on. Giuliani always let us. I miss him.”

In the episode ‘What Will We Do This Time About Adam?’ Adam, Jessa’s boyfriend and Hannah’s ex-boyfriend (played by Adam Driver) leaves Jessa for a day to see if he is still in love with Hannah. Jessa is left alone and heartbroken. She takes to the streets on the search to feel something. As Ariana Grande’s Dangerous woman plays, she sits in a bar mid-day smoking a cigarette. The bartender asks her to put it out, when she responds with this.

This show is a very liberal minded show about very liberal minded people. Giuliani is a conservative republican, so Jessa obviously does not miss Giuliani. But when she says this, the bartender gets off her back, although he does so begrudgingly. It is clear that Jessa is unwell, and this statement comes from a dark place, which she is clearly in.

2 “What if I want to feel like I have udders? This woman doesn’t care about what I want.”

Shoshanna has a new book, Listen Ladies: A Tough Love Approach To The Tough Game Of Love. When it states that “sex from behind is degrading. Point blank. You deserve someone who wants to look in your beautiful face, Ladies.” Jessa really does not like this.

She feels that the book is talking all about what the male wants in a heterosexual relationship, and assumes what females want. This thought is hilarious because not many can say that they have wanted to feel like they have udders when they have sex. Jessa always brings things to a place where you would never think possible.

1 “Our best was awful.”

This quote comes in the second to last episode of the show, “Goodbye Tour.” Throughout the past season, Jessa and Hannah, her prior best friend, have not spoken for a number of reasons, but the one that outshines the others is because Jessa started dating Hannah’s ex-boyfriend, Adam.

The two reunite at Shoshanna’s engagement party, and reconcile. When Jessa apologizes, Hannah states that they were all just doing their bests, and Jessa replies simply with this through laughing tears. The moment shows how deep friendships can find a way back and although they change, they are always important and real.

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