It’s a shame Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t have smart mouths as part of its ensemble anymore; those who used to have a sharp tongue have now developed to more mature characterizations, which makes us miss Mark Sloan.
The guy was a ladies man whose seductive outer layer hid the introspective person that dwelled within. Mark had jokes in great numbers, but you’ll be surprised that the smooth talker had quite a lot of life lessons hidden inside of him. These 10 quotes represent the best of Mark Sloan, and you’ll find he was a lot more than just being funny and trying to swoop in on the ladies.
"We're Hot Doctors With Babies, People Are Going To Stare."
Mark knew he was attractive and owned up to it. His attractive quality was increased even more when he had baby Sofia, as it gave him the responsible dad quality that ladies love. After Derek also adopted a child of his own, both of them became the talk of the hospital.
Derek, being shyer in nature, wasn’t sure what was going on when he saw onlooking women give them the eye, but Mark knew that look very well. Rather than be embarrassed, he took it in stride and casually pointed out that their hotness had increased now that they had children.
"If you love someone, you tell them."
It’s only because he passed away and has no chance of returning that we’ve given up on Mark coming back to Grey’s Anatomy because the person he had become before his death was someone who offered sage advice aplenty.
When he saw that Jackson was in love with April, and having learned his lesson after Lexie’s death, Mark advised Jackson to stop messing around the possibilities of getting rejected and just telling the person he loved that he was in love with them. As Mark knew, life could be cut short at any time.
"But somehow we forget that all that matters is people. And whether we walk away leaving them better or worse for having met us."
Whatever we do in life is for people. We’ve seen in more gritty shows how even the protagonists can become antagonists, and even in a drama like Grey’s Anatomy, there are consequences for actions.
A quote like this coming from Mark is a surprise, considering he used to be so full of himself that he didn’t care how he was hurting women by basically using them for his pleasure. However, it appears that Mark did learn that what he did to these women was wrong, and in the end, it is about how people remember you, whether you like it or not.
"I saw the heartbeat today. This is my kid, this is part of me."
Even if you’ve never been a parent before, the moment you do get to that point you’ll just know that the child is yours. Mark, a person who only looked out for his physical needs, showed the best of him when he had the responsibility of his child.
In this scene, it appeared as if he was hesitant about what the future would hold due to Callie’s surprise pregnancy, but there was no mistaking that Mark had made up his mind to be there as a permanent fixture for his child; even if that meant ruining his chances with Lexie over it.
"...I'm Saying You Could Have A Husband."
Over the years, Grey’s Anatomy has had a couple of spin-offs produced with varying degrees of success; however, only the flagship show could pull off having a couple that was so see-saw in nature.
Mark and Lexie were plagued with breaking up and getting back together, and in this instance, you had to feel for Mark, who had his sights set on making Lexie his forever. When he approached Lexie to get back together, the latter told him she had a boyfriend in Alex already. In response, the man whom you would least expect to propose did so by offering Lexie a lifetime of commitment.
"I Haven't Stopped Praying Since Yesterday."
You know things are dead serious when Mark Sloan pulls the brakes on his quips. Then again, this was a scenario that involved the birth of his child, who was in danger after Callie got into an accident.
In an effort to encourage him to be positive, Arizona asked a distraught Mark to make a prayer for Callie; however, Mark was way ahead of her here as he confessed he had been praying for well over a day already. This was a father’s love that was becoming too difficult to contain due to his fear of losing his unborn child.
"Supporting Someone And Respecting Someone Aren't The Same Thing."
How true are these words? On occasion, Grey’s Anatomy throws at us quotes that are pearls of wisdom, and coming from a guy like Mark you just know there was a deep truth behind it.
This has happened to all of us in life; you get the support of someone close to you for something you want to do, but then don’t get any respect for your efforts. In this way, it feels like you’re just being supported out of spite rather than a place that feels genuine, and isn’t respect the most valuable thing of all?
"...If I Can Have A Part In Making Her Happy Again, Then That's All I Want To Do...For The Rest Of My Life."
Timing was the main issue with Mark and Lexie, as they would be in different places mentally whenever the other wanted to get back together. In Season 7, Mark was ready to be with Lexie through thick and thin due to his experience in the shooting fiasco at the hospital, even if it meant getting hurt.
For him, the slightest possibility of making Lexie happy meant the world, and he was ready to take the chance of getting rejected because by that point his love had become unconditional. And who doesn’t want to be loved that way?
"I'm Self Destructive And Self-Loathing To An Almost Pathological Degree."
You’d think Mark would’ve come to this realization near the end of his tenure on the show, but these words were said upon his first appearance on Grey’s Anatomy. The beauty of this quote, though, is that it makes total sense a season later.
We learned that Mark didn’t come to Seattle to get Addison from Derek as was believed, but that he had wanted Derek to become his friend the whole time. This explained very well why Mark considered himself to be self-destructive along with hating his own guts, as it made him lose his best friend.
"Sometimes You Wish People Would See Themselves The Way You Do."
Doesn’t it feel enormously sad when you see someone who has so much good in them but don’t consider themselves to be truly worthy? It’s hard to articulate how amazing a person really is, not when that person doesn’t want to accept it.
Mark saw the best in Callie during his final days, but the problem was that Callie wasn’t seeing herself that way. Knowing he didn’t have long, Mark felt it was a pity that he couldn’t put it in words that Callie would be all right without him. Perhaps that was his final regret before he passed away.