Those oft spoken "Sex and the City" questions, asked in soothing voice-over by New York Star dating columnist Carrie Bradshaw, have in recent years become the target of hilarious memes and "I-can't-believe-she-said-that" quips, complete with an eye-roll.
But let's not pretend Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who wrote about her stalled dating life and the lives of her three best friends, didn't have some solid dating gems.
"Sex and the City" was a television show for a generation of young women, struggling to talk about sex, dating and what they really wanted from men. Unlike its small screen predecessors before them, like "The Golden Girls" and "Designing Women," Darren Star's comedy was a more unsanitized version of what women were really talking about in the '90s over cosmopolitans.
The three women who linked arm-in-arm with Carrie on those New York streets were power lawyer Miranda Hobbes, portrayed by now-New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, public relations magnate Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, and art gallery dealer turned stay-at-home mom Charlotte York, played by Kristin Davis.
"SATC" was a rare moment in television history where the men in these women's lives weren't the heroes. They weren't waiting on Prince Charming to come and save them from a life of career work. Instead, the foursome, embodying distinct aspects of muliebrity, showed New York City women in control of their careers, but equally importantly, in control of their love lives.
Although the show often gets teased -- and for good reason -- for asking at times banal dating questions like "When it comes to bags, men, and cities, is it really what's outside that counts," it also held solid dating advice and mantras for women without a significant other.
Here are the 20 best pieces of dating advice from "Sex and the City":
Mantras for single women
1. "Some people are settling down, some people are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies." -- Carrie
2. "Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed. Maybe they need to run free. Until they find someone, just as wild to run with." -- Carrie
3. "Being single used to mean that nobody wanted you. Now it means you're pretty sexy and you're taking your time deciding how you want your life to be and who you want to spend it with." -- Carrie
4. "The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous." -- Carrie
5. "You shouldn't have to sacrifice who you are just because somebody else has a problem with it." -- Carrie
6. "Life gives you lots of chances to screw up which means you have just as many chances to get it right." -- Carrie
7. "Anyone who’s single in Manhattan gets a little freaked out from time to time. But we keep trying because you have to figure ... somewhere out there is another little freak who will love us, understand us ... and kiss our three heads and make it all better." -- Carrie
8. "I will not be judged by you or society." -- Samantha
9. "Take tradition and decorate it your own way. Think of it like the woman in Abu Dhabi, or like the movies in black and white, relationships come in a range of colors and options." -- Carrie
10. "Being a mother just isn't enough." -- Miranda
Advice for women who are dating
1. "I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love." -- Carrie
2. "Don't play hard to get with a man who's hard to get." -- Samantha
3. "And, finally, the most important breakup rule: No matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you’ll never go through it without your friends." -- Carrie
4. "When men attempt bold gestures, generally it’s considered romantic. When women do it, it’s often considered desperate or psycho." -- Carrie
5. "It wasn't logic, it was love." -- Carrie
6. "The hard thing about fighting in relationships is that there’s no referee. There’s no one to tell you which comments are below the belt. As a result, someone usually gets hurt." -- Carrie
7. "Some love stories aren't epic novels, some are short stories... But, that doesn't make them any less filled with love." -- Carrie
8. "I love you... but I love me more." -- Samantha
9. "I didn’t get married to follow what society wants us to do, we are married, we have the luxury to design our own life." -- Carrie
10. "Maybe the past is like an anchor holding us back. Maybe, you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be." -- Carrie
