Top 10 Barney Stinson Quotes to Live By

Barney Stinson is obsessed with suits, so much so that he’s rarely seen without one. He’s also adamant that his friends join him in being dressed to the nines, with one of his catchphrases being “suit up!” While not everyone’s happy place is as tied to formal wear as Barney’s is, suiting up is still something worth living by. How we look to the world can be important, and even if suits aren’t your thing, trying to look your best is still a good idea. Whether you want to look fancy or just wear what looks best on you, suiting up is solid advice for any occasion.

Barney wasn’t always the womanizing bro he is for most of the show. Before he met the gang, he dated a woman named Shannon, whose rejection for a business bro drove Barney to imitate the guy who stole his girl. After reconnecting with her, Barney’s recounting of the event initially makes it seem like he regrets the path he took, but he soon reveals that his tears are ones of joy. He loves the life he leads, or at least claims to. Whether it’s genuine or not, and whether you admire Barney’s life choices, looking for the positives in one’s life is often more helpful than focusing on the negatives.

#8: Let Go of the Fantasies “Cleaning House”

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Top 10 Barney Stinson Rules To Live By

It’s no secret that Barney didn’t grow up with a strong father figure. He actually believed game show host Bob Barker was his dad for much of his life. When he and his brother James uncover what may be Barney’s real father’s name while cleaning out Barney’s childhood room, Barney admits to the fact that he knows Barker wasn’t really his dad, but that it was a nice fantasy to believe he had a famous father. He then declares that he’s done with fantasies and that he’s ready to grow up. As fun as fantasies are, reality will always be there waiting and it’s better to face it…advice Barney still has trouble following.

Robin and Barney have a pretty tumultuous relationship. After Barney’s breakup with Quinn, Robin begins pursuing Barney, while he seemingly doesn’t notice; instead taking her coworker Brandi home. However, after recounting the evening to Robin and Lily, Barney tells them that he came to a personal revelation and that his promiscuous behavior since his breakup with Quinn has been a cry for help. He claims that he’s searching for what he really wants from life and that he doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Many of us can relate to not knowing what we want out of life, but, like Barney says, we still need to try.

After Barney manages to get a girl’s phone number with an extremely lame pick-up line, which Ted criticized previously, Barney tells his friend that his biggest problem is that he overthinks things. He then pushes Ted to try the free shot samples they’ve been given to turn off his inhibitions; claiming that the universe has charged him with making Ted awesome. Overthinking things is always a problem that’s best avoided, since it freezes you into never acting. In addition, improving the lives of those around you is another excellent philosophy to live by…even if encouraging excess drinking isn’t always the best way to do it.

Basically from the moment Barney meets Ted, he’s tried to get his friend to loosen up and the suit-clad womanizer tries something similar with Marshall, with less success. After learning that Marshall has only ever been with Lily, Barney decides to push him to hit on the hottest girl in the bar, which is, unbeknownst to him at the time, Lily. He then advises Marshall that “scoring” is not as important as believing he can do it, which Barney doesn’t believe he can. While Marshall immediately and hilariously proves him wrong, Barney’s advice is good in general, as being too focused on one’s goals leads to greater disappointment when those goals aren’t met.

After a mystery girl starts sabotaging Barney’s attempts to hit on women everywhere, he enlists his friends to form a bracket to try to narrow down which of his former conquests he has wronged enough to earn this vendetta. However, by the episode’s end, he’s still no closer to finding the answer. Barney then updates his blog and writes that his attempts to find the mystery girl led him to find something else – how “awesome” he is. Searching for one thing but finding another is something that happens all too often in life, and we should embrace it when it happens, since our intended path may not always be the best one.

On the eve before Barney’s wedding to Robin, he decides to go out for one last night on the town, taking a pair of younger guys under his wing to impart his knowledge on how to be an awesome single guy to them. One of his final lessons is that no matter what you do, it isn’t legendary without your friends. This is a very real truism – you can be as successful and awesome as you can be, but without someone you care about around to see it, your accomplishments are bound to feel hollower. Basically, friends make life worth living.

When Lily leaves Marshall to go to San Francisco, the poor guy is seriously depressed. However, Barney believes he sees the problem – Marshall needs to stop being sad. He then claims that whenever he’s sad, he stops being sad and is awesome instead. While if taken literally, this is pretty bad advice, particularly if you have a condition that affects your mood permanently, like depression, but from a figurative perspective, it’s not bad. Focusing on the positives in your life can improve your mood and trying to strive for awesomeness might also help take your mind off of whatever’s making you blue. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: I Could Not Stop Loving Her “Splitsville” A Second Chance to Make a First Impression “Slutty Pumpkin” A Lie is Just a Great Story That Someone Ruined with the Truth “Zoo or False” Everything I Have Is Yours Forever “Last Forever, Part 2” A Hold on My Heart “Splitsville”

Let’s conclude things with one of Barney’s most notorious catchphrases. Barney frequently describes things he has and his friends will experience as “legendary.” Whether any of what he gives the label to truly is worthy of it is debatable, but his attempts to make everything he does as exceptional and memorable as possible are worthy of imitation. His frequent interjection of “wait for it” in the middle of the word is also appropriate, since truly legendary events don’t happen every day. And even if our lives aren’t truly legendary, it doesn’t mean we should stop trying to make them so.