Mr. Robot: 16 Of Elliot's Best Quotes

Summary Elliot's fixation on the top 1% and his desire to take them down highlights class disparity and the need for social change.

Elliot's relationships are power struggles, showcasing his struggle to find true connection amidst his quest for control.

Elliot's internal conflicts, portrayed through his various alter egos, illustrate the themes of identity, control, and self-acceptance.

Mr. Robot quotes helped make it one of the most mind-bending, complex, and multi-layered shows on TV when it began airing in 2015. Ending after four seasons, the show was notorious for its many twists and turns that left fans even more confused by the end of each season. Not everything Elliot Alderson did or said was of sound mind: he and his hacktivist group called Fsociety were following the direction of a man known as Mr. Robot who took on the likeness of Elliot's deceased father, and turned out to be Elliot himself all along.

Through his efforts, dissociative identity disorder, paranoia, and delusions, Elliot delivered some disturbing but also thought-provoking lines. It has been years since Mr. Robot ended after four captivating seasons. But some of Elliot Alderson's most profound quotes live on. While he was cynical, troubled, and paranoid that the world was against him, Elliot also had some thought-provoking things to say about the state of humanity and capitalism. But his journey throughout the show also involved some self-reflection, moments of awakening, and a few lengthy internal monologs.

Related 10 Technological Threats In Mr. Robot That Are Actually Real Mr. Robot was all about the dangers of hacking, and although it seemed exaggerated, most of what it presented was close to the truth.

16 "They Showed Themselves, The Top 1% Of The 1%"

Elliot - Season 3, Episode 10 - "shutdown -r"

"The ones in control, the ones who play God without permission. And now I'm gonna take them down."

Elliot often fixates on the top 1% of the 1% and how they abuse their power. He always wanted to stop them and create a better world but the problem is that all his past efforts only made them stronger. Elliot found a way to move forward once they revealed themselves in the season 3 finale as he had purpose, clarity, and hope that he'd never had before. This is an important moment for Elliot, but it also highlights issues of class disparity and the fact that significant steps must be taken to solve these issues and create a more just world.

It was all clear, after three seasons of Mr. Robot remaining one of the most confusing shows on television. It was also the first time the viewers realized that Elliot had a chance to win — or even that he had a real villain to battle all along, other than the voice in his head pushing him forward into constant battle.

15 "Every Relationship Is A Power Struggle. Some Of Us Need To Be Controlled."

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 6 - "eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes"

Many people think relationships are about connection and growth, but in Elliot's experience, they are often about control. His relationship with Mr. Robot largely revolves around the power struggle between them. The power in their relationship is in constant flux, with one often having the upper hand over the other. Elliot's outlook on relationships is also shaped by the relationships outside of himself, such as in season 3 when his relationship with Angela also becomes a power struggle.

To Elliot, relationships may actually be about who is the controller and who can be controlled, instead of being about connection or growth. This is why he always struggled to find a real connection in his life. Everyone Elliot connected with was part of the overall scheme to take down those in power, and no one could trust anyone else because all that mattered was one person was in power and the others just followed the lead.

14 "How Do I Take Off A Mask When It Stops Being A Mask, When It's As Much A Part Of Me As I Am?"

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 1 - "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc"

This question is posed at the beginning of season 2, but it remains relevant until the very end of the series. The show's last big reveal makes this question even more compelling as fans learn that the Elliot they knew was a "mastermind" personality who manifested to protect the real Elliot. Mr. Robot ends with the real Elliot returning to reality, but he is undoubtedly changed by letting the masks of these other personalities control him for so long.

Related Mr. Robot: 10 Things That Brought Us Closure (And 5 That Didn't) While Mr. Robot and its final season deserve abundant praise, it didn't provide closure in every respect. This is what resolved and what didn't.

Everyone must be careful about the masks they wear as those masks will eventually become part of who they are forever. For Elliot, he created so many different personalities, from Mr. Robot to the mother personality to even the hacker hero that fans followed throughout the series. The fact that fans never got to know the real Elliot by watching the series shows that this Mr. Robot quote was a direct hint at the final twist of the series.

13 "There Are Some People Out There… And It Doesn’t Happen A Lot. It’s Rare. But They Refuse To Let You Hate Them..."

Elliot - Season 4, Episode 11 - "eXit"

The full quote continues: "...In fact, they care about you in spite of it. And the really special ones, they’re relentless at it. Doesn’t matter what you do to them. They take it and care about you anyway. They don’t abandon you, no matter how many reasons you give them. No matter how much you’re practically begging them to leave. And you wanna know why? Because they feel something for me that I can’t… They love me."

In Elliot's final conversation with Whiterose, she tries to appeal to his self-hatred and hatred of society. Indeed, Elliot's rage is one of the best villains in Mr. Robot. What she didn't realize was how Elliot developed. People like Darlene, Angela, and even Mr. Robot choose to stick with Elliot and love him, regardless of how he tries to push them away. Their love for Elliot taught Elliot to love and accept himself. Just as they never gave up on him, Elliot refuses to give up on society. This signifies major character development and serves as a powerful lesson.

12 "What If Changing The World Was Just About Being Here, By Showing Up No Matter How Many Times We Get Told We Don’t Belong..."

Elliot - Season 4, Episode 13 - "Hello, Elliot"

The full quote continues: "...by staying true even when we’re shamed into being false, by believing in ourselves even when we’re told we’re too different? And if we all held on to that, if we refuse to budge and fall in line, if we stood our ground for long enough, just maybe… The world can’t help but change around us.”

These words from the series finale can act as an important reminder that change always starts with a single individual. True change can only happen when individuals stick to their beliefs and create the change themselves. Elliot faces countless internal and external obstacles throughout the series, but by standing his ground and creating the change he wants to see, the world finally relents and begins to change for the better. This is the only way that Elliot finally finds himself on the show and takes off his mask.

11 “Maybe Wars Aren’t Meant To Be Won, Maybe They’re Meant To Be Continuous.”

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 10 - "eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx"

This sad realization suggests that wars are simply an ongoing product of the world. Fight a war with one person, an organization, or a situation, and then move on to the next. It’s purely cyclical, depressing, and never-ending. This is the way Elliot always thinks; pessimism is in his blood and maybe he’s right. Any time someone wins one war, another emerges. So does anyone really ever win at all? Or will he simply replace one war with another and call it something different?

Related Mr. Robot: The 10 Best Characters Introduced After Season 1 One of Mr. Robot's greatest strengths was its cast of characters, but who were the best players introduced after the first season?

This is not an original Mr. Robot quote, as it was something that George Orwell originally said. His comment was about real wars, and he stated that the entire purpose of war is to "Keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects ... to keep the very structure of society intact." It is obvious this original quote meant a lot to Elliot as it speaks to his entire reason for fighting.

10 “We’re All Living In Each Other’s Paranoia.”

Elliot - Season 1, Episode 1 - "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov"

Elliott is seeing a therapist to deal with his identity issues, depression, anxiety, and severe paranoia. As he explains in his session, to him, everyone is paranoid. He believes that everyone just lives based off of the paranoia of others. If one person suspects another of cheating in their relationship, for example, that suspected guilty party must live with their significant other’s paranoia. This is what leads him to his distrust of others, as well as his creation of multiple alters to protect him from those around him.

Elliot doesn't even trust himself and his paranoia is for good reason. The bad guy in this story is Elliot, yet he is also the good guy. He knows there is something inside him that is destructive and he knows that if it gets out it could destroy him. He lives in a constant state of paranoia toward the government, toward corporations, and toward his own dark secrets.

9 “I’m Good At Reading People. My Secret? I Look For The Worst In Them.”

Elliot - Season 1, Episode 1 - "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov"

The expression goes that everyone should always look for the best in people. But to Elliot, if searching to get to know someone and learn what they are all about, the best thing to do is look for the worst in them. That will reveal who they really are behind the mask they throw on and the person they portray themselves to be every day. This is one thing that keeps him going, and allows him to know who he can trust and who he needs to keep an eye on to save himself in the end.

However, does the worst about a person truly define them? Is that who they truly are? In Elliott’s eyes, they are who their darkest moments turn them into. Others who think more optimistically might simply believe that the worst in someone is just the worst they could be, but who they really are is reflected when they bring out their best. Elliot refuses to see the good in people if he sees that they can be terrible if pushed enough. He also knows this because he sees it in himself every day.

8 "I Do See The Beauty In The Rules, The Invisible Code Of Chaos Hiding Behind The Menacing Face Of Order."

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 1 - "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc"

As this quote suggests, Elliot believes the concept of conventional rules is a form of chaos. In his mind, rules are simply organized forms of chaos, meant to manipulate and control people into living in a personal sense of chaos. But this truth is masked beyond what the rules present, which is a seemingly organized stream of people simply living out their daily lives, going through their motions. However, for Elliot, "going through the motions" is a form of being locked into a style of prison.

In this Mr. Robot quote, he admits that he recognizes the appeal of the rules because he believes it does make the chaos invisible. But he sees right through them, knows the chaos that exists under the surface, and Elliot wants others to see this chaos as well. It is only then that people can stand up against order and bring down the ruling class.

7 “I’ve Never Found It Hard To Hack Most People."

Elliot - Season 4, Episode 12 - "whoami"

"If you listen to them, watch them, their vulnerabilities are like a neon sign screwed into their heads.”

Throughout Mr. Robot, Elliot uses his tremendous hacking skills for what he believes to be a greater good, delivering his own sense of vigilante justice. When he believes that someone is up to no good, he hacks into them, finds proof, and then essentially blackmails them to coerce them into doing what’s right. He is a modern-day Robin Hood, in the computer age. However, this makes one wonder how he is always able to get the information, and his Mr. Robot quote here reveals his thought process.

He admits that he often hopes he’s wrong and has hacked into an innocent person. But he believes that he is so perceptive that he can spot those who are doing wrong, and he therefore only hacks them to find the proof he already knows is there. This is confirmed in another great quote: “…I never want to be right about my hacks, but people always find a way to disappoint.”

6 "It's One Thing To Question Your Mind; It's Another To Question Your Eyes And Ears."

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 12 - "eps2.9_pyth0n-pt2.p7z"

The quote continues: "...But, then again, isn't it all the same? Our senses just mediocre inputs to our brain? Sure, we rely on them, trust they accurately portray the real world around us, but what if the haunting truth is they can't? That what we perceive isn't the real world at all, but just our mind's best guess? That all we really have is a garbled reality, a truly fuzzy picture we will never make out?”

This is one of those lengthy internal monologues delivered by Elliot that really makes viewers stop and think. Elliot is wondering if what's perceived is actually real. Do people see things the same way others do? Is everyone just making their own best guesses about situations? Could this explain so much of the conflict in the world? It's a really troubling and thought-provoking statement that might make fans question everything. By the end of the series, fans learn the shocking answer to that question. Just because they saw something happen, it does not mean it was real.

5 "Annihilation Is Always The Answer. We Destroy Parts Of Ourselves Every Day..."

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 4 - "eps2.2_init1.asec"

This powerful quote continues on to provide real-world examples: "...We Photoshop our warts away. We edit the parts we hate about ourselves, modify the parts we think people hate. We curate our identity, carve it, distill it. Krista's wrong. Annihilation is all we are." Especially in today’s world where people are so focused on presenting their ideal selves through social media, endlessly editing photos until finding the best one to post, using unrealistic filters, and trying to present the best versions of themselves aesthetically, Elliot hits this nail right on the head.

Krista, his therapist, tries to explain to him that annihilation is not what people need, but to Elliot, that’s exactly what people do every day. No one is happy enough with what they are and what they look like. They set out to change everything, which in reality means they are "annihilating" themselves regularly and don't even know it. To most people, annihilation is the only way they can live in happiness without drawing in self-pity.

4 "Control Can Sometimes Be An Illusion..."

Elliot - Season 2, Episode 7 - "eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme"

There's more to this one: "...But sometimes you need illusions to gain control. Fantasy is an easy way to give meaning to the world. To cloak our harsh reality with escapist comfort. After all, isn't that why we surround ourselves with so many screens? So we can avoid seeing? So we can avoid each other? So we can avoid truth?" Any fan of the series knows that Elliot himself is prone to illusions, or rather hallucinations. But to Elliot, he thinks the fantasy is his reality.

Fantasy and illusions are what help him control a situation, when he’s, in a way, living outside of himself. Everyone does it, as Elliot notes, by immersing themselves in fantasy movies and TV series (like Mr. Robot), scrolling through social media feeds with profiles that only show one side of peoples’ lives, and cutting themselves off from reality by escaping to a digital world via an entertainment medium like gaming. Is that really all that different when Elliot starts to live in his own fantasy world?

3 "...It's Painful Not To Pretend, Because We're Cowards.”

Elliot - Season 1, Episode 1 - "ohellofriend.mov"

This is the end of another one of Elliot's long internal monologues. It begins: "The world itself's just one big hoax. Spamming each other with our running commentary of bullshit, masquerading as insight, our social media faking as intimacy. Or is it that we voted for this? Not with our rigged elections, but with our things, our property, our money. I'm not saying anything new. We all know why we do this, not because Hunger Games books make us happy, but because we wanna be sedated..."

Elliot believes all of this numbs people to reality, to what’s really going on in the world. Throughout most of Mr. Robot, Elliot is fighting with his alternates and he doesn't always know what is real and what is fake. However, this is also very exciting to him. Whether he is battling the Mr. Robot character representing his father or going out and robbing the rich to help the poor with the alternate personality he developed to protect himself from pain and danger, Elliot spends every second of this series pretending to be someone he is not. Anything else would force him to face reality — the last thing he wants to do.

2 "Hello Friend. This Only Works If You Let Go, Too."

Elliot - Season 4, Episode 13 - "Hello, Elliot"

This is actually Elliot's final quote of Mr. Robot, and it is one of the most impactful in the entire series. This quote occurs at the moment when Elliot finally realizes that the mastermind version of Elliot, i.e. his alter-ego Mr. Robot, must let go in order for the real Elliot to be able to take back control of his life. But with Elliot staring into the screen, he's urging the fans to let him go, too. This is something that happens more than once, as the psychiatrist also looks at the audience and says she knows they are voyeurs into Elliot's life.

It's a really powerful end to a story that was filled with so much heartbreak, tension, twists, and turns. Elliot finally began to recognize that everything that was happening was him all along and that his true self wasn't in the driver's seat. But he had the control to take to the proverbial wheel. While she spent most of his life pretending to keep himself safe from the real world, he knows it is time for him to retake control and force his alternates to release him, and for the audience to agree to let the story end there as well.

1 “I Wanted To Save The World.”

Elliot - Season 1, Episode 9 - "eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt"

It’s the shortest of the best Mr. Robot quotes, but one of the most impactful. While what he accomplished with Fsociety was terrible and had severe implications on society, he really did have good intentions. Behind all of his cynicism was a young man who simply wanted to re-program the world and make people focus on what was important; forgive the debt people had incurred due to greedy banks and investments, take the money and power away from corporate conglomerates, and give it back to the people.

Of course, it backfired. But in the end, Elliot really did just want to save the world and thought his actions would have done just that. This quote shows that Elliot was the hero in his own story even if society eventually saw him as a terrorist, or simply an out-of-control and evil young man. Elliot had every intention of helping people, he just went about it the wrong way. That was the overall message of Mr. Robot by the end of the story.