Favorite lines in OUTLANDER that are not in the book



Diana Gabaldon has commented frequently that "the book is the book, and the show is the show." The point being that there WILL be differences -- that's just the way a TV adaptation works -- and that people who watch OUTLANDER expecting things to be "just like the book" are bound to be disappointed. She's right about that, of course -- and yet, as a diehard fan of the OUTLANDER books, I love it when I see a favorite scene or line of dialogue in the TV show that's taken straight from the book.

I thought it might be fun to turn that idea around, and take a look at some of the best lines in the TV series that DON'T appear in the book. Here are a few of my favorites. It was hard to pick just two quotes per episode!

Click on each episode title to see my recap of that episode, in case you missed it.

Episode 101: "Sassenach"

Jamie: "You're shakin' so hard it's makin' MY teeth rattle."

Jamie: "Thank you, Sassenach. Truly."

Episode 102: "Castle Leoch"

Claire: "Is there ever a good reason for rape, Master MacKenzie?"

Rupert: "I am but Dougal's eyes, not his head. But let me warn ye, mistress: these eyes won't be turning their gaze from ye until the head orders me to."

Episode 103: "The Way Out"

Colum: "And did your wife's people encourage you to mock your laird?"

Dougal: "Aye, it seems that the feral cat we picked up on the road is trying to pull in her claws."

Episode 104: "The Gathering"

Angus: "Somethin' catch your eye there, lass?"

Claire: "[Dougal] was being forward with me, and I may have walloped him over the head with a chair or something."

Episode 105: "Rent"

Dougal: "I'm not bloody doing it [mending Jamie's torn shirt]. The lad can wear rags from now on."

Lt. Foster: "Tell me, Madam, are you here by your own choice?"

Episode 106: "The Garrison Commander"

Dougal: "If ye wish to hear Londoners speak, perhaps ye should have stayed in London."

Black Jack Randall: "That boy and I, we were creating a masterpiece. An exquisite, bloody masterpiece. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Episode 107: "The Wedding"

Jamie: "To a a lady of grace, a woman of strength, and a bride of astonishing beauty."

Jamie: "If Claire does become my wife, I'll thank you to stop talking and thinking of her like some common whore."

Episode 108: "Both Sides Now"

Frank: "My wife is NOT with another man!"

Claire: "If I started giving rein to my feelings, things would pour out of me that I wanted to keep locked away forever."

Episode 109: "The Reckoning"

Jamie: "But the truth is, I'd forgiven everything she'd done, and everything she could do, long before that day. That was no choice. That was falling in love."

Claire: "I feel like that's what I should want [long pause] but I don't."

Episode 110: "By the Pricking of My Thumbs"

Jamie: "I can finally return home to Lallybroch, take my rightful place as laird of Broch Tuarach. And ye can be my lady. We'd be happy there. I know we would."

Duke of Sandringham: "I certainly have no time to review these libelous falsities. Oh, that's very good. [Turns to clerk] Write that down, would you? Libelous falsities."

Episode 111: "The Devil's Mark"

Ned Gowan: "What we have here, Your Honor, is nothing more than the grumblings of a malcontented maidservant."

Geillis: "Looks like I'm going to a fucking barbecue!"

Episode 112: "Lallybroch"

Jenny: "Do ye think life just started when the two of you walked through that door?"

Claire: "You're trying to be someone you're not, and in the process you're wrecking the family that you do have left. And if you're not careful, you're going to lose them, too."

Episode 113: "The Watch"

MacQuarrie: "Here’s to a long life, and a merry one. A quick death, and an easy one. A pretty girl, and an honest one. A stiff whisky, and another one."

Claire: "Whatever happens, we'll handle it. No matter the cost." (I love this line! It could be the motto for the entire OUTLANDER series, including all of Diana Gabaldon's books.)

Episode 114: "The Search"

Jenny: "Well, they knew if they refused, I'd either skelp their lugs or bedevil their suppers."

Murtagh: "If ye look hard enough [across the water], ye might just see the Americas. It's the only place you haven't sung that damn song yet."

Episode 115: "Wentworth Prison"

Black Jack Randall: "When you lie upon your wife, and her hands trace the scars on your back, do you ever think of me, and soften?"

Claire: "You fucking sadistic piece of shit!"

Episode 116: "To Ransom a Man's Soul"

Murtagh: "I'll no watch Jamie waste away. Die like an animal in the woods with his foot caught in a trap."

Claire: "You belong to no one else but me. And I belong to you. Nothing will ever change that."
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I hope you enjoyed these quotes. Feel free to suggest your own favorites! You can leave a comment here or on my Outlandish Observations Facebook page.

8 comments

Anonymous said...

Claire: "It's too long and heavy for me."
Rupert "Aye, lassies say that to me all the time."

Roseanne said...

Why Mrs. Randall, I believe you left your undergarments at home.

Anonymous said...

Episode 110 Dougal says to Jamie "I said kiss her, Dinna swallow her."

Connie said...

Excellent choices, Karen! I love how the adaptation has added to our beloved story.

Icecrystal said...

I'm presently comparing the screenplays of series 1 to the source materials. Not surprising that my admiration for the scriptwriters is HUGE and GROWING. It's such a tricky issue, including the sense or the summary of a scene or event...And the fact we can choose from so many (non-novel) quotes is again, a compliment and an honor to those hard-working writers, including of course, DG.
I personally laugh every time I hear this one, from 105 Rent:
(Claire)
They hate me.
(Jamie)
They don’t trust ye. Well, maybe Angus hates you, but he hates everyone.

Barbara

Mary Tormey said...

Hi Karen , I'm more a fan of the books than the series so I love quotes from them , but will watch some of Season 2 next year, Sincerely Yours Mary Tormey.

Susanlynn♥ said...

"I must admit that the idea of grinding your corn does tickle me." Dougal to Claire. Was that in the book?

Susanlynn♥ said...

"Every morning , I awake to find that I love you more than the day before." Jamie to Claire at Lallybrook

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