25+ memorable quotes from When Life Gives You Tangerines

When Life Gives You Tangerines premiered on March 7, 2025, and ran until March 28, 2025. It featured a star-studded cast, including IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, and Park Hae-joon.

The romance and slice-of-life series When Life Gives You Tangerines featured 16 episodes. It was helmed by director Kim Won-seok and penned by screenwriter Lim Sang-choon.

Set against the backdrop of Jeju Island in 1951, When Life Gives You Tangerines showcased the life of the rebellious Ae-sun and the innocent Gwan-sik who endured times of hardship.

When Life Gives You Tangerines presented the four seasons of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik, it presented the lifelong story of setbacks and wins of the duo. It proved how love could transcended times in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

For those unversed, Park Bo-gum played the character of Yang Gwan-sik. Meanwhile, IU portrayed the double roles, including Oh Ae-sun and her daughter, Yang Geum-myeong in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

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25+ memorable quotes from When Life Gives You Tangerines which resonated with viewers

When Life Gives You Tangerines highlighted the struggles of women and their will to break free from the stagnant norms of patriarchal society. Ae-sun and Gwang-sik struggled to provide everything for their daughter, Yang Geum-myeong.

The drama When Life Gives You Tangerines showcased perseverance, resilience, hard work, and determination to move forward to break the generational poverty by Ae-sun.

Subsequently, When Life Gives You Tangerines has been famous for its dialogue delivery and the relatable quotes that have resonated with the K-drama Community.

The following 25+ memorable phrases from When Life Gives You Tangerines have been provided below:

1) "I'd rather die earning a penny than die begging."

2) "Does romance pay the bills? Once they get hungry, they'll start resenting each other."

3) "I heard vanity stems from emptiness. Maybe I want to buy so much because I grew up poor. Maybe it's a deeply rooted issue."

4) "It's an odd thing. Parents dwell on what they couldn't give. And children dwell on what they couldn't get."

5) "I thought that once you grew up, your hands and heart would naturally become calloused. But everything's still too hot for me. I get burned every day, but it hurts every time. Am I the only fool in the world? Is there anyone else adulting just fine?"

6) "The pain of losing a parent cuts deeper as life goes on, but the pain of losing a child is etched in the deepest part of your heart."

7) "With their lives full of catches, all they wanted was for their blazing summer sunshine to last."

8) "A cocoon that doesn't break open in time gets devoured by predators. Only the ones that break free quickly emerge as butterflies. You need to learn how to open the doors that are in your way."

9) "Rain may pour as if it would sweep everything away. But once the sun starts blazing again, life rises again, no matter what."

10) "None of us have fully grown up. But every time our hearts felt growing pains, we all grew a little."

11) "Your mind can't weep if your body is weary. One day, life might get so tough that you feel like you can't go on. Don't just lie still. Struggle with all your might. Stomp on your blanket. Plow the field or even do odd jobs to earn some money. Tell yourself you won't die and must survive, no matter what. Paddle your arms and legs like crazy. You'll get through the dark waters and see the sky. You'll be able to breathe again."

12) "I swallowed their dreams and spread my wings, embracing my mom's dream like a seed in my heart."

13) "A young leaf can be torn by even a gentle rain."

14) "The strongest wind is one that blows within one's fist-sized heart. Nothing could withstand such wind."

15) "When you're struggling to breathe in the dark waters, you need to stay close to others to survive. Or fear will grip your heart, and you won't make it."

16) "Any other grief fades with time and becomes numb. But when the grief is too deep, I end up burying it."

17) "Even as I gently press my heart to soothe it down, the moon wanes, yet the young heart remains."

18) "No one can live on their own. Go together, with others. If you do, 100 miles will feel like ten."

19) "The strongest wind is one that blows within one's fist-sized heart. Nothing could withstand such wind."

20) "Everyone has a dark side, after all."

21) "When you're struggling to breathe in the dark waters, you need to stay close to others to survive. Or fear will grip your heart, and you won't make it."

22) "Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to save a single life."

23) "Mom, by mere coincidence, has lost immeasurable things. That's why she fussed even more, believing that restless worry could prevent coincidences. Her relentless worry was tiresome. But it was the same relentless worry that saved me again. Just like that, she's saved me time and again."

24) "Whether this grand first love would become a love song or a breakup song, I didn't know back then. I was just blazing with love without any shame."

25) "A broken heart isn't just a figure of speech. It actually hurts. My heart clenches painfully."

26) "They say you need countless lifetimes of fate to meet even once in this life. If you miss it when it brushes past, that's the end."

27) "If you keep pitying yourself and saying your life sucks, your life will really suck. If you think you're only worth 100 won, who would think you're worth 1,000 won? Stop pitying yourself and say something sweet to yourself so you can stand tall."

28) "There was a time when people held their heads up. A time when people stayed true to their hearts. A time when we looked at each other, not our cell phones."

29) "I do love you deeply. But I love myself deeply, too."

30) "A child definitely does what it saw growing up. I should've shown only precious things to my precious child."

31) "I've also had a dream for a long time. Being independent. Living an independent life is actually quite a feat."

32) "You're like a Christmas tree. A tree just does its job no matter where you put it. Whether a Christmas tree is in a room in a basement or a corner store no one visits, it's always sparkling. It always makes your heart pound."

33) "You have to open the faucet fully to fill the bucket fill. You get nowhere in life trying to mend every leaking hole."

34) "When one door closes, another is bound to creak open."

35) "Just like that, I leaped from the nest. Like a bluebird soaring above a bare mountain, fluttering with excitement and brimming with confidence."

36) "Life never allows us to truly savor these moments. Happiness comes right at you. Misfortune always creeps up from behind."

37) "Respect, gratitude, and affection for one's parents. Even ten billion wouldn't be enough to buy these things. No money can pull out the peg you drive into your child's heart."

38) "I'm the older sister, the eldest child the damn pillar of the family."

39) "You should always take the drumsticks and do whatever you want in life. You need to live your life so you don't grow resentful."

40) "Even when you're old, you want to have a place in the world."

41) "I thought life went from spring to summer, fall, and then winter, but I was wrong. It sometimes feels like winter, sometimes like spring. I've had myriad spring days. I've had many sparkling moments."

The Korean Drama Community has been praising When Life Gives You Tangerines for its dialogue delivery, cinematography, acting skills, actors, and much more.

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When Life Gives You Tangerines is available to watch on the American streaming platform Netflix.