Monty Python only made a handful of movies and one TV sketch show, but they managed to create some of the most timeless comedy of their generation. And yes, we do mean "timeless." Their prime was during the 1970s and early 80s, but their best bits sound like they could've been written this week. When was the last time you watched a comedy from the 70s and thought, "It's like they're satirizing 2018?" Probably never. But Monty Python, despite existing long before the Internet and all the peculiarities of the early 21st century, might as well have been skewering modern culture.
Don't believe us? Check out these 30 classic Monty Python quotes and tell us they aren't as relevant today, maybe more relevant, than they were back in the 70s.
1 | "We interrupt this program to annoy you and make things generally more irritating."
Image via IMDB-Monty Python's Flying Circus
Replace "program" with "online story" and add "with pop-up ads," and it's like these Monty Python quotes were written yesterday.
2 | "He's not the Messiah—he's a very naughty boy!"
-Monty Python's Life of Brian
Hey, we're not naming any names!
3 | "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government!"
Image via IMDB-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
But it arguably makes more sense than a government that allows itself to shut down! (Burn!)
4 | "And finally..."
Image via IMDB"... here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to annoy the censors and hopefully spark some sort of controversy."
-The Meaning of Life
Hmm. Being shocking just to spark controversy and get attention. We'll let you think about that while you're posting to Instagram.
5 | "The mill's closed..."
Image via IMDB"... There's no more work. We're destitute. I'm afraid I have no choice but to sell you all for scientific experiments."
-The Meaning of Life
Obviously, nobody would ever sell their kids to pay the bills. But when times get tough, it's easy to identify with the absurdism of one of the greatest Monty Python quotes of all time.
6 | "But kids were different in them days..."
Image via IMDB"... They didn't have their heads filled with all this Cartesian Dualism!"
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
Adults are as confused as ever about what the heck is going on with the kids today.
7 | "Shut up, you American..."
Image via IMDB".... You Americans, all you do is talk, and talk, and say 'let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say.' Well, you're dead now, so shut up!"
-The Meaning of Life
Leave it to the Grim Reaper to school modern Americans on their bloated egos.
8 | "We use only the finest baby frogs..."
"...dew picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope and lovingly frosted with glucose."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus)
Not only could these exist in 2018, they'd probably sell for $200 a pound.
9 | "My brain hurts!"
Image via IMDB-Monty Python's Flying Circus
We're right there with you, Mr. T.F. Gumby. Every time we watch the news, we want to moan "My brain huuuurts!"
10 | "There's nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can't prolong."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
The great thing about modern medicine is that they never overcharge patients for needless procedures. Or maybe the opposite. Either way, Monty Python quotes have a certain finesse when it comes to striking the nerves of millions.
11 | "This is a vegetarian restaurant..."
"... We serve no meat of any kind. We're not only proud of that, we're smug about it."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
Apologies to our vegetarian friends, but you know it's true.
12 | "Tonight, instead of discussing the existence or non-existence of God, they have decided to fight for it."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
Unlike today, where we're able to have civil, rational debates about religion.
13 | "She's a witch! Burn her already!"
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It's like John Cleese and company knew about the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
14 | "It's just gone eight o'clock and time for the penguin on top of your television set to explode."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
We can't be the only one afraid to turn on our TV because of what might happen next, right?
15 | "Let me tell you something, my lad..."
".... When you're walking home tonight and some great homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries, don't come crying to me!"
-And Now for Something Completely Different
Somehow, this Monty Python quote perfectly describes the paranoia you may be feeling in 2018.
16 | "Oh! Now we see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!"
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Wait, is this a movie about 5th century Europe, or 21st-century college campuses?
17 | "Apart from the sanitation..."
"...the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"
-Monty Python's Life of Brian
Even today, our government is still out to get us—except for all the stuff they do for us!
18 | "It's not pining..."
"... It's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet it's maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot!"
-And Now for Something Completely Different
It's not so much the dead parrot part of this sketch that still rings true. It's the arguing with somebody about what seems like an obvious truth until you're red in the face, and they're still refusing to acknowledge it.
19 | "Is it a boy or a girl?," asks the new mother...
To which the obstetrician answers: "I think it's a bit early to start imposing roles on it, don't you?"
-The Meaning of Life
Hey, don't look at us, we're not the one making satire of modern ideas about gender fluidity.
20 | "There are a great many people in the country today, who through no fault of their own, are sane."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
And remember, these were lines written before the invention of Twitter.
21 | "Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who."
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Why Monty Python quotes aren't being taught in schools as an unironic example of global political logic is beyond us.
22 | "I'd like to complain..."
"...about people who constantly hold things up by complaining about people who complain. It's high time something was done about it!"
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
We'd complain about this Monty Python quote, if it wasn't so spot-on.
23 | "I'm glad to say we've got the go-ahead to lend you the money you required..."
"... We will, of course, need for security the deed to your house, the deed to your aunt's house, of your wife's parents' house, and of your granny's bungalow. And we will, in addition, need a controlling interest in the stock of your new company, unrestricted access to your private bank accounts, the deposit of your three children in our vaults as hostages, and a full legal indemnity in case of any embezzlement carried out against you by members of our staff during the normal course of their duties."
-Monty Python's Flying Circus
Um….this is supposed to be satire, yes? Cause we're pretty sure they just described our mortgage.
24 | "It's just a flesh wound."
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Yes, this was said by the Black Knight, who had just had his arm chopped off. In an era in which controversies are often glossed over, this absurdist joke still rings true.
25 | "Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?"
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This jaw-dropping Monty Python quote, in which King Arthur insists that a tropical fruit could be carried by birds to the temperate Mercia kingdom, follows the same reasoning of many disagreements in 2018, where opinions are more important than facts!
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