39 Years Later, Inigo Montoya's Princess Bride Line Is Still The Greatest Movie Quote Ever

Do you love big, sweeping, epic romances where the lovers are kept apart for years, only to reunite in a scene that takes your breath away? Do you love clever, quippy, dialogue? Do you love swashbuckling adventures with a touch of vengeance? Great news. "The Princess Bride" has literally all of those things.

In 1987, writer-director Rob Reiner released "The Princess Bride," an adaptation of William Goldman's novel of the same name — and with Goldman adapting his own work into the screenplay, every second isn't just true to the book, but elevates the material. Robin Wright made her feature film debut as Princess Buttercup, a lovelorn woman who mourns the apparent loss of her one true love, a stable boy named Westley (Cary Elwes), and, believing him dead, agrees to marry the horrible Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). Elsewhere, swordsman Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), who always travels with the friendly giant Fezzik (André the Giant), wants revenge on the man who killed his father, and when Westley reappears as the Dread Pirate Roberts, he ends up teaming up with Inigo and Fezzik to also rescue Buttercup. Wallace Shawn, Carol Kane, and Billy Crystal play pivotal supporting roles in this film. It's basically perfect.

If you've seen "The Princess Bride" — and the odds are that you have — you know it's chock-a-block full of quotable lines. Today, though, we're celebrating one of its most beloved and well-known quotes, 39 years after its release.

Throughout "The Princess Bride," Mandy Patinkin's dashing and skilled swordsman Inigo Montoya has one goal: to find the six-fingered man who killed his father when Inigo was just a boy. For years, Inigo has been searching for this specific killer to avenge his dear old dad — and he finds him in the film in the form of Count Tyrone Rugen (Christopher Guest). So why is this line so important to the film, and why is it so beloved after nearly four decades?

For one thing, Inigo says it, like, 80 times in the movie, so it's easy to remember. It's a testament to Rob Reiner's sharp, exacting sense of comedic timing that the line never loses any luster, but remains funny every single time Patinkin delivers it (which is also a credit to Patinkin, a truly formidable performer who's been excellent for generations at this point). It's also connected to the movie's enduring message of love, even though it definitely seems a little more murdery than the flowery declarations of passion exchanged between Westley and Buttercup. Inigo truly loved his father, and once he kills the genuinely evil Rugen, the character delivers a line that defined Patinkin's actual life.

Reiner, who was tragically killed alongside his wife Michele Singer Reiner in late 2025 at his home in Los Angeles, made movies with big jokes and even bigger hearts. This line perfectly exemplifies that, and across the board, "The Princess Bride" is one of his very best films. So what other "Princess Bride" quotes stand the test of time?

• "We'll never survive." "Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has."
• "You know, it's very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life."
• "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
• "Inconceivable!"
• "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
• "Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."
• "You seem a decent fellow; I hate to kill you." "You seem a decent fellow; I hate to die."
• "I could give you my word as a Spaniard." "No good. I've known too many Spaniards."
• "You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha-ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders — the most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia' — but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!'"
• "You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept."
• "I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" "Do you always begin conversations this way?"
• "Have fun storming the castle!"
• "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
• "As you wish."