Top 5 Meaningful Life Quotes from K-Dramas

Hey guys, it has been a super long time since I last updated kdramayeowang and I can't believe that my last post was back in October 2015! How time flies! I have been super busy over the past two years and just couldn't manage to find time to write reviews on the Korean dramas that I love watching during my free time. For my very first update on kdramayeowang in such a long time, I've decided to share with you guys my list of the top 5 meaningful life quotes from the K-dramas that I really love! :) As a long-time Korean drama fan, what I enjoyed most about watching Korean dramas is how the story and development between the characters unfold and how we as the viewers, are shown how the characters deal with the many conflicts in their life throughout the drama. Although often in a much more makjang and unrealistic way compared to reality, Korean dramas do actually depict our life in reality to a certain extent. Apart from swooning over the chemistry and love story between the main leads, or even crying over the melodrama or makjang plot line, one of the best parts about watching any genres of Korean dramas is the life lessons and values that we are left with after the finale of each drama. 

Let's check out the top 5 meaningful life quotes from our beloved K-dramas! 

#1 “Life is fleeting” –Tae Jo Wang Geon (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo)

“Life is fleeting” were the final words uttered by Tae Jo Wang Geon during his final moments in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. After his death, Wang So contemplated on the meaning of those words but couldn’t understand its true meaning until many years later after the death of Hae Soo and upon witnessing the continuous deaths of his brothers. Although Wang So and Hae Soo were separated by the different timelines in the end, those three simple yet meaningful words speak volume as our lives are indeed made up of short and fleeting moments. And the truth is that we may not have much time left to spend with our loved ones, just like how the happy and blissful moments between Wang So and Hae Soo were so short. Instead of regretting later on in life, we should learn to live life to the fullest every single day while spending the previous time we have with our loved ones because life is short, and indeed fleeting.

#2 “We swore to never change. We swore to never change until death. I never thought we would change. I thought the two of us were enough. Who is the bad one? The one that has changed…or the one who couldn’t?” – Ye Ji (Age of Youth 2)

In the final episode of Age of Youth 2, Ye Ji’s narration on how she and Jo Eun had drifted apart from being best friends to strangers was extremely relatable to in real life. This is because some relationships do not last forever and have their expiry date at some point. Despite the length and depth of any relationships that we have, whether in love or friendship, the question of whose fault it is to blame when a relationship falls apart often remains a trivial one. Nonetheless, one thing we should learn from this is that we should appreciate the current relationships that we have with our loved ones and to never take them for granted because we never know when our final moments are. For those who cannot get over the pain of breaking up in any relationship, whether like Eun Jae from her first relationship or Jo Eun from her long-time best friend, perhaps the answer would be to move on in life instead of dwelling in the past because you may end up hurting yourself even more.

#3 “Like what he told me, we are all living this life for the first time” –Nam Se Hee (Because This is Our First Life)

Following the premiere of tvN’s new drama ‘Because This is Our First Life’, this simple quote which came at the end of the first episode has become one of my favourite life quotes. Towards the end of the first episode, we hear Ji Ho’s narration of how her 30^th birthday went and how she comforted herself by recalling what Se Hee said to her: “Like what he told me, we are all living this life for the first time.” In today’s society, it is the harsh truth that the younger generation is facing all sorts of problems that didn’t exist in the past, from looking for a job to owning and buying a house, and just basically trying to survive in society. This quote somehow provides comfort and hope to those who are in their 20s and 30s to not give up easily because everyone is trying their best to live their life for the first time in today’s society.  To those of you who are in your 20s and 30s, don’t give up easily because you are simply not the only ones who are having a hard time! J  

#4 “Time will always flow. Everything will pass by. That might be why youth is beautiful. It shines, blindingly bright, for just an instant. But you can never go back to it” –Deok Sun (Reply 1988)

I really enjoyed the countless quotes and narrations throughout the drama and at the end of each episodes in tvN’s hit drama Reply 1988. One of the most memorable quotes is the one by Deok Sun at the end of the drama where the present 2015 Deok Sun finally understood the lyrics of the song “Youth” which she couldn’t back in 1988 as she reminisced about the streets of  Sammundong, a place where both her parents and her had spent most of their youth. Perhaps this is because as we mature with time, youth becomes something that is so distant and far away from us. While youth will forever be something that is close to our heart, we can never go back to that time when we shined and lived so fearlessly again. Youth is really the most memorable and unforgettable time of our lives as it goes by in a blink of an eye before we could realise its importance. That’s makes youth something that is so precious and we should try our best to enjoy our youth while we can! J

#5“Every moment I spent with you shined. Because the weather was good, because the weather was bad, and because the weather was good enough” –Kim Shin (Goblin)

Just like how we can’t always predict when the weather would be good, bad or simply good enough, life is filled with unexpected sadness and joy, ups and downs. Despite having lived for thousands of years, the immortal yet lonely Goblin, Kim Shin, realised that every moment he spent with his Eun Tak shined regardless of the weather because it was the moments that they spent together that was precious. And those were the very moments that had kept the Goblin alive as he continued living on without Eun Tak while reliving every single day and reminiscing their moments until he could finally reunite with his bride in her following life. In life, it is often the little things that count because it is precisely the moments spent with our loved ones that shined so brightly.

P.s. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this special section on the 'Top 5 Meaningful Life Quotes from K-dramas'! Let me know in the comment below what are some of your favorites life quotes from your favorite Korean drama! <3