When you think of Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, you think of a guy who’s a good friend and the best person to go to for a fun time. That would be selling Barney short, though, as he had a lot of emotional moments as well, which tend to go unnoticed.
In order to understand how well-rounded this character was, one should check out the various times where he displayed both his funny and sad times. To this end, we’ve put together five quotes each where Barney made our hearts break, and those quotes that will put a smile on your face.
Funniest: "My Nose Is Just Overflowing With Awesome And I Had To Get Some Out."
One of Barney’s most famous catchphrases has to do with how awesome he thinks he is. The execution of this way of life had a lot of hilarious results, with one of them being how Barney claimed he had “awesome” running through him.
When he fell sick, Barney tried to deny that he could ever be in ill health. To this end, he argued that his running nose had nothing to do with illness. Instead, he was just extracting “awesome” out of his system since he was overloading on it.
Heartbreaking: "Are You Saying You Don't Want To Be Bros Anymore?"
The bromance between Ted and Barney was of legendary proportions, yet we had what could be counted as one of the topmost heartbreaking moments of the series involving these two guys. Here, an infuriated Ted cut off his friendship with Barney because the latter hooked up with Robin.
For Barney, it was the friendship with Ted that had been the reason why he had any friends in the first place, so to hear him be in denial over not being “bros” with Ted is one line that hits the feels hard.
Funniest: "I'm Sorry, I Don't Speak I-Never-Get-Laid."
Ted’s constant aversion to Barney’s plays didn’t do much good for him, as the alternative was that he’d just sit around dilly-dallying over a potential relationship. In this instance, he was again at it by contemplating whether to call a girl immediately or wait three days.
When Barney claimed that the three-day rule was one Ted needed to abide by, Ted came with a weak argument for it. To that, Barney hit him with this hilarious quip over how Ted’s methods warranted a whole different language for people who failed at dating.
Heartbreaking: "If You Were Gonna Be Some Lame Suburban Dad, Why Couldn't You Have Been That For Me?"
Barney’s total denial over anything that had to do with not having a father figure in childhood reached dangerous levels. He ended up forming an idea that his father would be the coolest guy ever, only to find out that he actually led a “lame” suburban lifestyle.
However, it turned out that Barney’s problems with his father having this life mainly with the realization that he truly had been abandoned as a child. This was when he exploded on his father that the latter could have given him the family life he’d always wanted but never did.
Funniest: "We Are International Businessman On A Very Important International Business Trip."
Although he had more plays than one could count, and was a pretty good liar when he wanted to formulate a scheme, Barney never was great in pressure situations. Case in point was when he and Ted were apprehended by cops at the airport.
After he was questioned over why he’d been visiting the airport and talking to random women, Barney decided to stick with this lie, even though nobody believed him. Even after Ted begged him to tell the truth, Barney repeated this sentence. That, too, despite the fact that he clearly didn’t look like he was an international businessman.
Heartbreaking: "I Should Go...Tough Night."
Robin’s frequent missteps in love led to Barney enduring a world of emotional pain, as he found out that she hadn’t broken up with Kevin to be with him. Unfortunately for Barney, he had just ended things with Nora to be with Robin.
Rather than confront her or his own feelings, though, the poor guy instead bottled them up and pretended as if everything was all right. The words “tough night” were the only indication of his sorrow, but they conveyed more than enough of his inner pain.
Funniest: "This Isn't Barney Stinson Singing This Song. That Would Be Really Lame."
One of the more outrageous gags on the show was the video resume that Barney came up with. Here, he compiled a bunch of thrill-seeking videos together that had nothing to do with corporate America and recorded a song to go along with it.
Barney’s only attempt in hiding the fact that he was the one singing was including a lyric where he denied being the one to record the song. He even acknowledged how lame it was within this piece of music, yet what's hilarious is how it apparently got him a bunch of job offers.
Heartbreaking: "I'm Too Far Gone. I'm Broken."
The real shame about the U-turn in characterization for Barney in the finale was that it ignored the development he’d gone through. One of the best moments this was showcased in was when he admitted to his father that he thought he could never find the woman he needed to settle down with.
Here, he truly let his vulnerability out by going so far as to calling himself a “broken” man for pursuing meaningless relationships. It was a fair sight at a man who just realized that his life had amounted to pretty much nothing. Too bad he then went on to do exactly that after the events of the ninth season.
Funniest: "Question 1: Do You Wanna Be Canadian? Question 2: Really?"
Although he himself was one-quarter Canadian, Barney’s taste for hardcore video gaming, his generally devil-may-care attitude, and his overall lack of scruples meant he looked down on the kind-natured Canadians. Although this was mostly done with a light sense of humor.
For this reason, he liked to make fun of Robin for being from Canada, arguing that nobody would want to be a Canadian if they could help it. Here, he claimed that the application to become a citizen of the country would involve the second question itself, asking why anyone would want to be Canadian.
Heartbreaking: "Everything I Have And Everything I Am Is Yours. Forever."
The one saving grace in the otherwise awful finale of the show was Barney’s moment with his daughter, where we saw him break down in tears. While this was most definitely a heartwarming scene, it was heartbreaking for fans to realize that Barney would end the series all alone.
When he looked at his daughter for the first time, he instantly fell in love and vowed to spend his life caring for her. However, it’s still pretty sad to see that Barney ended up giving up on finding a relationship at all.