After its record-breaking resurgence on Netflix, Suits found a new audience to appreciate the rich characters portrayed onscreen. The legal drama aired on the USA Network before making its mainstream streaming debut in 2023 with seasons one through 8 and Season 9 in 2024. Suits chronicles the highs and lows of a Manhattan law firm led by Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) after he hires an associate, Mike Ross (Patrick Adams), who never went to law school. The supporting cast includes Gina Torres as managing partner Jessica Pearson, senior partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), legal secretary Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), and paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle).
Each character finds their footing and unique tone in the dialogue, offering fans catchphrases, quick wit, monologues, thought-provoking arguments, and more. The lines mark important character arcs and expository revelations that are delivered by the expert cast. From courtroom bite-backs to Donna-isms, the best quotes from Suits are equally entertaining as they are thought-provoking.
Suits
- Release Date
- June 23, 2011
- Creator
- Cast
- Patrick J. Adams , Sarah Rafferty , Gabriel Macht , Meghan Markle , Rick Hoffman , Gina Torres , Amanda Schull , Dule Hill , Katherine Heigl
- Seasons
- 9
- Studio
10 “Sometimes I like to hang out with people that aren’t that bright, you know, just to see how the other half lives.”
Mike Ross (Season 1, Episode 1)
And thus one of the best bromances on television began. When Mike is attempting to make a drop for Trevor’s (Tom Lipinski) drug deal, he stumbles into Harvey’s Harvard Law associate interviews, spilling the briefcase full of weed. The pair immediately hit it off, flexing their intellect in a battle of legalese that, ultimately, Mike wins. When Harvey seriously considers hiring Mike with no law degree (or any degree), Mike solidifies Harvey’s choice by saying, “Sometimes I like to hang out with people that aren’t that bright, you know, just to see how the other half lives.”
At this moment, we see the city’s greatest closer get closed by a man without a Harvard Law degree. Mike’s ability to match wits and show his hunger to be a lawyer was like looking in a mirror for Harvey. This line, introduced in the underrated pilot episode, was the domino effect for the whole series.
9 “But the truth is, we all have skeletons in our closets. The difference between you and me is that I don’t care to use them.”
Rachel Zane (Season 6, Episode 3)
While Rachel’s character deserved much more than the girlfriend role, there were multiple moments where she stood as a force to be reckoned with. After Mike goes to prison, Rachel occupies her time with law school and faces her own adversity during a debate in her practical ethics class when her opponent, Naomi (Ashley Leggat) calls out Rachel’s engagement and Mike’s jail time for fraud. Rachel seeks Jessica’s opinion from one powerful woman to an aspiring other. She returns to Naomi with a “skeleton” the audience never sees, telling her how easy it was to go after her association with Mike. In a demonstration of Rachel’s character, she says, “But the truth is, we all have skeletons in our closets. The difference between you and me is that I don’t care to use them.” Naomi reads a Rachel-written apology before forfeiting the loss to Rachel.
The major players at Pearson Specter Litt have no shame in using skeletons to bend their opponent’s will, but instead of publicly calling out Naomi, Rachel does it privately. She took heed of Jessica’s advice to show the class and the world she wasn’t afraid of people like Naomi, rather they should be afraid of Rachel.
8 “This is all your fault. And what just happened to that beautiful woman in there, that’s on you! Not me!”
Louis Litt (Season 2, Episode 7)
Louis went from a bumbling supporting character to an ally, a villain, back to ally, and finally to family throughout the nine seasons. During the mock trial to prepare for the Coastal Motors lawsuit, Louis had to play villain to the one woman who he platonically cherished, Donna. His brutal cross-examination ended in Donna storming out after he repeatedly asked if she loved Harvey. The heated moment led to a confrontation between Harvey and Louis in the bathroom, with Harvey questioning his ulterior personal motives. Reminding Harvey that the lawsuit, the mock trial, and everything else was all about saving his job, Louis reveals that he took no pleasure in the cross, screaming, “This is all your fault. And what just happened to that beautiful woman in there, that’s on you! Not me!”
This scene revealed that Louis (for once) hadn’t gotten lost in a moment of rage, he was doing his job to prepare Donna for the worst the episode’s enemy, Travis Tanner (Eric Close), would do in a courtroom. Louis’s emotional outburst at Harvey demanded that Harvey take responsibility, while also showing Louis wasn’t always the monster everyone made him out to be. This quote is one of the most eye-opening for Louis’s character in the early seasons of Suits.
7 “You woke the dragon, Charles. How do you like me now?”
Jessica Pearson (Season 3, Episode 15)
In one of the many instances where Jessica went to bat for her firm, none was better than when she told off the man who hired her outside the courtroom. The former named partner Charles Van Dyke (Jamey Sheridan) comes calling to audit the firm’s books, seeking more money. When the two meet outside the courtroom, Jessica must stall until Louis arrives with their winning solution. She tells Van Dyke the story of how she learned she was his diversity hire and how sick she felt. While it motivated her to work hard to achieve her status, she would never forget how Van Dyke would always see her. Just before they enter the courtroom, she warns, “You woke the dragon, Charles. How do you like me now?”
This is one of Jessica’s most defining quotes because she never takes for granted her success in a male-dominated field. She is a powerful TV character and this is one of her most powerful moments, and one that proved so sweet when she drops the hammer on her former mentor. As she reminds Harvey and the viewers throughout the series, that’s her name on the door.
6 “I’m Donna. I know everything.”
Donna Paulsen (Season 2, Episode 8)
From episode one, audiences knew the administrative and people prowess Donna possessed. She holds irreplaceable value to Harvey and the firm for more than her quick wit. She’s an underrated TV character whose Donna-isms provide much-needed comedic relief while also portraying strong confidence from a female character in a male-dominated industry. “Rewind” is a flashback episode focused on how Harvey and Mike’s individual choices led them to where they are now. Additionally, we see the first exchange between Rachel and Donna, where Donna stuns Rachel with her insider knowledge about the firm and her. When asked how, she simply says, “I’m Donna. I know everything.”
5 “Life is this. I like this.”
Harvey Specter (Season 1, Episode 10)
One of the mottos Harvey establishes early and is called back to throughout Suits‘ nine seasons appeared in the first season after Mike wins his first case. When a client’s accountant, Stan (John Billingsley) is fired for falsifying his credentials, Mike enlists Stan’s help to dig into the financials of his former company. The pair uncover various shelf companies the CEO uses to embezzle money from her clients. While the firm gets a win in the case, Mike struggles with Stan’s unemployment mirroring his own position at Pearson Hardman. Harvey, when confronted by Mike, explains that people’s choices lead them to the lives they live, saying, “Life is this,” holding his hand flat, “I like this,” and raising his hand higher. This phrase comes back several times over the seasons.
Stan’s dismissal is something Mike consistently grapples with for fear of getting caught. Harvey’s high-life mentality isn’t something Mike understands or wants, but in breaking down Harvey’s words, he realizes that you can do the minimum and live life as it is or you can do more to achieve what you want out of life. What Mike ultimately achieves by his series exit is much closer to “I like this” than “Life is this.”
4 “Don’t play the case. Play the man.”
Harvey Specter (Season 1, Episode 7)
A negotiation tactic that set up Harvey’s methods for the rest of the series, “Don’t play the case. Play the man” was first uttered in Season 1 as advice to Mike. As Mike prepares for his second day of the mock trial, having made a fool of himself the first day, Harvey tells Mike that his strategy is to focus on the opponent instead of the facts of the case. In later seasons, Harvey uses this saying when discussing his poker playing skills, in reading the man across from him instead of his cards.
Harvey’s closing skills require him to read people before creating the deal to get what he wants, and by association, what his client wants. The tactic, while manipulative, helps both of them in future cases where there’s more much at stake than a mock trial. In teaching Mike this ideology early on, Harvey further cultivates his likeness in his genius protégé.
3 “Why don’t you tell me, when the hell does this become your dirty little secret?”
Mike Ross (Season 4, Episode 11)
A turning point in the series and the firm’s trajectory, Louis blackmails his way back to Pearson Specter as named partner after discovering Mike’s secret. Jessica goes to Mike to have him draft the partnership agreement as equal parts punishment for his secret and because of his skills. In one of Mike’s most emotional and powerful scenes, he goes off on Jessica for her constant digs about his secret being the bane of her existence. Mike points out that Jessica could have fired him the second she found out, but instead used him to her advantage in several key moments for her benefit. Exasperated, he ends his rant and the conversation with, “Why don’t you tell me, when the hell does this become your dirty little secret?”
Mike’s secret weighs on the team for the majority of the series, and, up until this point, the finger was consistently pointed at Mike with no culpability taken by any of the firm’s leaders. In later seasons during Mike’s trial and the ethics board meetings, Jessica ultimately takes the fall and leaves. But, in this scene, Mike points out the obvious that Jessica is refusing to admit.
2 “You’re gonna get Litt up.”
Louis Litt (Season 3, Episode 13)
While this isn’t the first time the phrase was introduced in the series, it was, perhaps, the first of many satisfying warnings from Louis. With Scottie (Abigail Spencer) joining the firm as a senior partner, her first case happens to be for one of Louis’s clients after he’s over 10 minutes late to the partners’ meeting. It goes without saying how Louis reacted, starting their relationship off on the wrong foot. His attempts to make amends fail, leading to a confrontation with Scottie where he threatens his signature phrase, “You’re gonna get Litt up.”
In an early episode, Katrina (Amanda Schull) had trademarked the phrase and gotten it printed on a mug. The saying became synonymous with Louis’s skills as an attorney, as he wielded the power behind it toward any person he came into conflict with, internal or external. Fans rewatching the series use it as a battle cry when watching Louis settle a case or win any of the firm’s many battles.
1 “You always have a choice.”
Harvey Specter (Season 4, Episode 4)
A sentiment echoed throughout the series, and one that is always left hanging into heavy air, the concept of choice and the high-stakes consequences is the driving force of Suits. After Mike leaves the firm to go legitimate and work in investment banking with Jonathan Sidwell (Brandon Firla), he clashes with Pearson Specter Litt over his hostile takeover of Gillis Industries. Desperate to keep his new job and save Walter Gillis’s (Michael Gross) company, Mike turns to Charles Forstman (Eric Roberts) for the money. Just before the episode’s conclusion, Harvey confronts Mike and tries to convince him to back out of Forstman’s deal. When Mike refuses to budge, Harvey’s parting words are “you always have a choice.”
In one of the many moments, Harvey sees himself in Mike, and this one hits deep as Mike starts to make the same decision he made years ago. A dangerous Suits villain, Forstman pulls the strings behind dozens of conflicts the characters face, and Harvey doesn’t want Mike to add another. Harvey’s warning was a last-ditch attempt to change Mike’s mind before another bad decision ruins his future.
