One Tree Hill debuted on the WB on September 23, 2003, and ended its nine-season run on the CW in 2012.
I began watching (devouring) One Tree Hill during my later high school years, when my parents finally decided to trade in their dial-up internet for a high-speed-ish alternative. Once I had the ability to stream, I quickly became engrossed in the sparkly and salacious world set in Tree Hill, North Carolina, where the teenagers were allowed to date and wear low-rise jeans. Over the course of nine seasons, I became fiercely attached to the characters in the show. I cheered for the Ravens, mourned Uncle Keith’s untimely death, developed real feelings for Lucas Scott and became personally invested in Naley. This fictional world appealed to me not only because of the HAWT BOYS but also because of the way the drama on screen mirrored my own.
One Tree Hill was full of hidden gems, like the soundtrack, which was perfectly suited to my I’m-16-and-the-world-doesn’t-get-me angst, and the fresh-faced musical talents who were discovered via the show’s notoriety, like Kate Voegele, Tyler Hilton, Bethany Joy Lentz and Michael Grubbs. But perhaps the most prevalent element of the show, the one that kept me invested episode after episode, as an aspiring writer, a dedicated journal-er and an overall suck, were the quote-worthy monologues.
Here are eight of our favourite quotes from beloved teen drama One Tree Hill:
“Someone once said: it’s the good girls who keep diaries, the bad girls never have the time. Me¦ I just want to live a life I’m going to remember. Even if I don’t write it down.”
– Brooke Davis, season 2, episode 8
“Because sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you’ve been. And remember the person you were meant to be. The person you wanted to be. The person you are.”
– Mouth McFadden, season 2, episode 22
“At this moment there are 6,470,818,671 people in the world. Some are running scared. Some are coming home. Some tell lies to make it through the day. Others are just not facing the truth. Some are evil men, at war with good. And some are good, struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world, six billion souls. And sometimes… all you need is one.”
– Peyton Sawyer, season 3, episode 1
“If you’re always looking for reasons not to be with somebody, well you’ll always find them, and I guess at some point you should let go and give your heart what it deserves.”
– Lucas Scott, season 3, episode 11
“You know it’s been said that we just don’t recognize the significant moments of our lives while they’re happening. We grow complacent with ideas, or things or people and we take them for granted and it’s usually not until that thing is about to be taken away from you that you’ve realized how wrong you’ve been that you realized how much you need it, how much you love it.”
– Nathan Scott, season 3, episode 20
“You ever look a picture of yourself, and see a stranger in the background? It makes you wonder how many strangers have pictures of you. How many moments of other people’s life have we been in. Were we a part of someone’s life when their dream came true or were we there when their dream died. Did we keep trying to get in? As if we were somehow destined to be there or did the shot take us by surprise. Just think, you could be a big part of someone else’s life, and not even know it.”
– Lucas Scott, season 4, episode 3
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.’ I think that what that quote means is that life is short and opportunities are rare and we have to be vigilant in protecting them and not only the opportunities to succeed but the opportunities to laugh and see the enchantment in the world and to live. Because life doesn’t owe us anything. As a matter of fact, I think that we owe something to the world.”
– Haley James Scott, season 4, episode 20
“It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.”
– Nathan Scott, season 9, episode 13
