Sheldon Cooper was the breakout character from The Big Bang Theory, and it’s for good reason. He’s brilliant, arrogant, and impossible to live with. But at the end of the day, it’s Sheldon’s misguided attempts at living with roommates and trying to live a somewhat normal life that is the primary source of humor in the series.
In other words, it makes perfect sense that Young Sheldon is such a successful spinoff series. With Sheldon Cooper’s opposing demeanor comes a number of highly quotable lines, and we wanted to talk about 13 of our favorite utterances that Sheldon delivers throughout the run of The Big Bang Theory.
13 “I am not crazy; my mother had me tested.”
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Sheldon Cooper is a certified genius, or just an absolute lunatic. Needless to say, he’s both, and his eccentric behavior often calls into question whether or not he belongs under close supervision when he starts to spiral. But make no mistake, Sheldon, despite his idiosyncrasies, is a competent individual who’s simply just set in his ways.
And even though Sheldon tends to lack the level of self-awareness that we wish a roommate would have, he’s the first to assert that he is in fact not crazy, because his mother had him tested; a reassurance he gives Leonard, Penny, Raj, and Howard dozens of times throughout the run of The Big Bang Theory.
12 “It must be humbling to suck on so many levels.”
Even though nobody else in The Big Bang Theory is competing over who’s the smartest, Sheldon never skips out on an opportunity to flaunt his superior IQ when he’s able to. That is to say that Sheldon has an IQ of 187, while Leonard only has an IQ of 173, making Sheldon the “winner.” Though a 173 IQ is nothing to scoff at, Sheldon often blames Leonard’s missteps on both the relationship and research front on his inferior intellect.
When Sheldon beats Leonard at a rousing game of 3D chess, he’s quick to assert that Leonard sucks on “so many different levels” while waving his hand over the platformed chess board. Though this quote is a bit contradictory because Sheldon considers himself above using wordplay as a means to deliver an insult, it goes to show you that he’s still a fan of kicking his roommate when he’s down, so he earns our respect on this one.
To say that Sheldon Cooper is fastidious is an understatement, but he’s so fastidious that he barely enjoys human contact. Though this quote is in reference to Sheldon’s penchant for social media, this sentiment is heightened to ridiculous proportions throughout the entire run of The Big Bang Theory.
In a season four episode entitled “The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification,” Sheldon decides to reside in his bedroom while letting a “mobile virtual presence device” make appearances on his behalf. This device is a combination of laptops, tablets, and a remote control car that allows Sheldon to be present without actually leaving the comfort of his home.
10 “I always listen to myself. It’s one of the great joys of my life.”
If there’s one thing Sheldon loves more than making other people listen to him, it’s listening to himself. Though we shouldn’t totally attribute this quote to Sheldon Cooper because it is strikingly reminiscent of an Oscar Wilde quote that states, “I like hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures.” Given that both Oscar Wilde and Sheldon made quite a name for themselves with their arrogance, it’s no wonder they’re thinking on the same wavelength.
9 “She calls me moon-pie because I’m nummy-nummy, and she could just eat me up.”
Even though The Big Bang Theory is set in Pasadena, California, Sheldon is a Texas native. As we get familiarized with his mother, we learn that she has an affectionate nickname for her son: moon-pie. When Sheldon is found out, and questioned by Leonard and Penny as to the origins of his nickname, he reluctantly forfeits the fact that he earned this particular nickname because his mom thinks he’s “nummy-nummy.”
It’s quotes like this that show us Sheldon is in fact a human. Not only does he have a cute nickname that only his mother could give him, but he also shows us a sign of embarrassment that is not typically a part of his everyday countenance.
8 “My father used to say that a woman is like an egg salad sandwich on a warm Texas day.”
If you’re wondering if Sheldon’s insults have ever gotten him in trouble, the answer is a resounding “yes.” In “The Egg Salad Equivalency,” Sheldon gets in trouble with the HR department at Caltech when he likens his new assistant Alex to an egg salad sandwich, stating that she’s “full of eggs and only appealing for a short time.”
Throughout the series, we hear Sheldon turn some phrases that were clearly part of his family’s home-spun lexicon, but this one goes straight past folksy territory, and is just plain insulting. But you’ve got to give it to Sheldon, and Jim Parsons for delivering this line with a straight face, because it’s one of his more memorable quotes despite its problematic nature.
7 “I’m trying to get my speech down to 90 minutes.”
One of the things that we love about Sheldon is his unwavering air of self-importance. When he finally secures the Nobel Prize for his work based on subatomic particles (not one of the goofy categories like literature, economics, and peace), Sheldon makes it clear that he is a man of many words when his initial iteration of his acceptance speech is longer than most feature films. Leave it to Sheldon to want to relish in the glory of his accomplishment while celebrating one of his favorite things to celebrate: himself.
6 “How hard is 65% Coke, 35% Diet Coke?”
If you’ve ever worked in the restaurant industry, you know that customers like Sheldon are an absolute nightmare. Even taking a soda order from this brainiac is a nauseating experience that will require years of therapy. Good luck paying for a session, though, because Sheldon is as brilliant as he is frugal. In other words, if he even suspects that this drink may be 64% Coke, and 36% percent Diet Coke, it’s safe to say he’s probably going to stiff you on the tip.
5 “How’s it feel to be married to a Nobel Prize winner?”
Sheldon doesn’t mean to be selfish, but his delivery often makes him out to be quite the self-centered scientist. When he and his wife Amy both win the Nobel Prize for their research, he asks her what it feels like to be married to a Nobel Prize winner, only for her to ask him the same question. When he comes to the revelation Amy is also a Nobel Prize winner, he expresses affection in the usual backhanded “good for you” way that he’s known for.
4 “Age is a state of mind, Leonard. In here, I’m 90.”
If we had to describe Sheldon Cooper with one word, it would be “curmudgeon.” Sheldon is a hypochondriac, and he’s set in his ways, much like an elderly man. But as we said in an earlier entry, Sheldon sometimes shows us that he is at least a little bit self-aware. Despite how irritating he can be at times, Sheldon does still show us a little bit of humility slips through his arrogance, which makes him a likable character at the end of the day.
3 “It’s all pomp and circumstance until someone loses an eye.”
Speaking of being a hypochondriac, Sheldon is known for adhering to strict safety protocols. We’ve seen him run fire drills at inappropriate hours, and his calendar of bathroom delegations surely makes him a hard person to live with. But these safety protocols aren’t just exclusive to Sheldon’s living situation with Leonard.
When Leonard is summoned to give a commencement speech at his old high school, Sheldon is the first to warn Leonard of the dangers of the ceremonial hat -throwing that happens at graduation. We can’t blame Sheldon for looking out for his roommate, but we’d also be hard-pressed to find an instance in which a graduate lost an eyeball during this kind of celebration.
2 “While my brother was getting an STD, I was getting a PhD.”
When we meet Sheldon’s siblings, it’s evident that he was always a fish out of water while growing up in Texas. Though we’re introduced to Sheldon’s twin sister Missy midway through the series run, it’s not until the later seasons that we learn about his brother, George, who was in many ways a bully to Sheldon growing up. Despite George’s success in the blue-collar sector as the owner of a chain of Tire Stores, Sheldon can’t get past the fact that he’s even successful in the first place.
We know Sheldon to be a petty and jealous person at times, but when faced with his own family, Sheldon takes this kind of attitude to a whole new level. In the case of his brother, Sheldon still considers himself to be more successful because he has a career in science, and not one in business.
1 “Bazinga!”
We had to save the best Sheldon quote for last, and of course, it would be “bazinga.” Though we’re not sure if this was meant to be a catchphrase when it was first introduced, it’s clear that “bazinga” had staying power, and took on a life of its own. This phrase was most gratuitously used in a season three episode when Leonard found himself trying to wrestle Sheldon out of a ball pit at a mall that he broke into. It’s in this episode, entitled, “The Einstein Approximation,” that we hear Sheldon say “bazinga” 26 times while slithering away from Leonard’s increasingly frustrated grip.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
