On the 20th day of Claire-mas, we take a look at the best Claire lines in Outlander so far. There are so many to work through!
There are certain Claire phrases that will always come to mind. You probably immediately think of “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ” just to start. Then there are her shouts for Frank and Jamie throughout the series. Spoiler: None of them are on this Claire-mas list.
However, there are some lines that stand out because of how meaningful they are. Then there are others that stand out because of the timing or due to the setting of the episodes. This isn’t easy to put together, and I’m sure some of you will disagree with the ones that I’ve picked. However, these are the lines that stand out the most to me when it comes to Claire Fraser to mark the day of Claire-mas.
Claire-mas Day 20: Claire’s best lines from Outlander
“On your feet, soldier. Take me home to Lallybroch.”
By this point of Outlander, I do sometimes feel like we’ve lost some of Claire’s sayings from the 1940s. There are a few thrown in here and there, but it’s easy to forget that she was a World War II nurse.
That is until this line.
It’s said after Jamie takes Claire to the stones, where she chooses whether to go back to Frank or stay with Jamie. She chooses Jamie and tells him to take her home to Lallybroch. And I love that she calls it “home.” Her home is with Jamie, and that becomes a running theme.
“You know, when we were in Paris and I lost Faith, during my fever, I saw birds, blue herons, and Master Raymond, he said, “Blue is the color of healing.” But this time, I saw storm clouds and my heart. And a snake. And it was in this house.”
This quote comes from Outlander Season 6, and it stands out because of the meaning behind it. Claire is talking about what she saw while feverish when she was sick. It could have just been the fever, but it’s also possible that Claire was seeing what was going on through pictures.
She saw the storm that was to come, and she saw the fact that someone was trying to kill her. The snake connects to Malva, who was slithering her way into Jamie’s life the best she could, even though it wouldn’t happen.
This near-death experience was so very different to losing Faith. Back in Paris, she was surrounded by people trying to save her and nobody there was trying to do the opposite. Even Master Raymond wanted to keep her alive, although we’ll never really know why except that he likely knows Claire is a traveler like him.
“Listen to me. If you ever raise a hand to me again, James Fraser, I will cut out your heart and eat it for breakfast, do you understand me?”
Who doesn’t love this moment? Claire has been beaten by Jamie. Considering the time period, Jamie’s actions aren’t that surprising. Claire could have gotten people killed by not doing as she was told, and a man back then would have been killed for that.
That being said, Claire is not a woman of the 18th century. She hates that Jamie beat her, and she is not going to let that happen again. At the same time, she understands why he did it and she is starting to love him at this point.
So, when she decides that she will give him another chance after his oath to her, she turns it all around on him. I love this line mixed with her show of strength. She will not be a beaten wife.
“He is the man to win the war against the British, and he will be the first leader of this country. But he won’t be a king. He will be a president, elected by the people. If Brianna were here, she’d have a hundred questions to ask him.”
There are a few lines in Outlander Season 4 that I love, but it’s this one. Claire is excited to meet George Washington. Who wouldn’t be if they were in the past?
There is a moment where Claire brings up cherry trees, which she thinks George Washington should know. This is amusing, but I love this line so much more because of the mention of Brianna.
In all her excitement, she thinks about her daughter. Bree has grown up learning American history. All Claire wants to do is share this moment with Bree, and she can’t do that. There’s a bittersweet element to meeting Washington because of it.
“The war had taught me to cherish the present because tomorrow might not ever come to pass.”
Finally, we head back to Outlander Season 1. This is actually from the pilot episode. Claire hasn’t even gone back through time from what I can remember.
We get a sense of who Claire is in this moment. She doesn’t think too much about the future because of the life she’s lived. She wants to experience life every day and cherish even the smaller things in life. That’s exactly what she does.
In fact, we see Claire cherish daily moments a lot throughout the series. It may be decades after the war, but she hasn’t forgotten that life lesson. Maybe being married to James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser will do that to you!
Which are your favorite Claire lines from Outlander? Share them in the comments below.
Stay tuned for the final days of Claire-mas.