Ryan Howard from The Office starts out as somewhat of a reasonable character, but he soon grows to be one of the least self-aware, arrogant characters on the show. While at first, he is a character like Jim or Pam who provides a more normal balance to characters like Dwight and Michael, his character arc reveals him to be extremely selfish, narcissistic, and insufferable. While Ryan might be a huge jerk who thinks he’s way smarter than he is, he does have some relatable moments hidden inside his arrogance.
Here are the ten most arrogant but relatable Ryan Howard quotes.
10. “I’M SUCH A PERFECTIONIST THAT I’D KINDA RATHER NOT DO IT AT ALL THAN DO A CRAPPY VERSION.”
While Ryan definitely prides himself on being one of the smartest people around, he’s for sure not a hard worker. He tries to get out of doing things by coming up with bad excuses that usually involve him seeming like he’s too good at things to try.
While this might be an arrogant thing to do, this quote is pretty funny. We’ve all had those moments where we just don’t want to try or want to come up with excuses not to do something.
9. “I WANTED TO SAY I’M SORRY...I WAS IN MY MID-TWENTIES, AND I WAS GOING THROUGH A LOT OF STUFF.”
One of the most obnoxious things about Ryan is his relationship with Kelly and how he treats her. These two have a toxic relationship, and he uses her and treats her poorly most of the time.
This is one time where he gets back together with Kelly and acts like he’s sorry although his apology is pretty bad. He continues this quote by saying, “I think I never fully processed 9/11,” so it's clear he’s not really taking any responsibility for his actions. Something we can all be guilty of, at times.
8. “I MISS THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS ONLY ONE PARTY I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO.”
While Ryan might be extremely arrogant and even ends up committing fraud when he gets hired at corporate, there are times when he is one of the most relatable employees of Dunder Mifflin.
Unlike many of the other characters, Ryan often doesn’t get drawn into the workplace shenanigans and is usually unimpressed, and this is something that many of us can relate to at our jobs. So, when he has to pick which Christmas party to go to, it’s clear he could care less.
7. “I’D RATHER SHE BE ALONE THAN WITH SOMEBODY. IS THAT LOVE?”
Ryan is someone who clearly doesn’t know how to care about anyone but himself, and this is abundantly clear in his relationship with Kelly. This quote illustrates just how selfish he can be. Instead of actually caring about her happiness, he would rather Kelly be alone and miserable.
While this is a pretty awful thing to say, it does capture a feeling of resentment that many of us have when our exes start to date someone else.
6. “EARTH. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE CRAZY TO LIVE HERE, BUT IT HELPS.”
Ryan definitely goes through an interesting journey as a character on The Office. He starts out as a somewhat regular dude trying to finish business school and ends up as the arrogant VP at corporate.
Then, he gets his job back as a temp and ends up trying really hard to seem like this deep, hipster guy. This is one of his quotes where he’s trying to show just how smart he is, but he really just comes off as relatably pathetic.
5. “I HOOKED UP WITH HER ON FEBRUARY 13TH.”
Ryan’s entire relationship with Kelly is a mess from the start as they both really want different things. While Kelly wants a relationship and something serious, Ryan is just looking to have fun.
However, he doesn’t ever do a good job of conveying this to Kelly, and he continues to use her anyway. However, when he hooks up with her for the first time right before Valentine's Day, it's definitely a hilarious moment that's relatable.
4. “PEOPLE KEEP CALLING ME A WUNDERKIND.”
Ryan is at his most obnoxious and arrogant when he gets the job at corporate. It’s clear he’s not really that qualified, and he basically lies and commits fraud the entire time to make it look like he’s doing a better job than he is.
When he gets the job at corporate, he acts like he’s some kind of prodigy, even though it’s really not that big of an accomplishment.
3. “I’M NOT SAYING I HAD A METEORIC RISE, BUT I DID.”
While Ryan has the job at corporate and is in charge of everyone at the Scranton branch, he’s definitely not a great boss. He’s extremely full of himself and thinks he’s better than his former co-workers, and he definitely resents how they react to him. While he might be arrogant, at least his self-confidence in himself is something to relate to or even aspire to.
However, the rest of this quote is even better as he says, “If they knew how much I was paying for my haircut now, they wouldn’t be giving me a nuggie. It was two hundred dollars."
2. “WUPHF”
This isn’t exactly a quote, but it is something that Ryan talks about in later seasons.
After losing his job at corporate and then getting re-hired in Scranton, he keeps trying to come up with the next big idea in tech or social media. WUPHF is his big idea that combines notifications for all social media, and while it’s clearly a horrible idea, he’s very proud of it.
1. “NOW THAT I’VE QUIT THE RAT RACE I REALIZE THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO LIFE THAN BEING THE YOUNGEST VP IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY.”
This is another quote that shows Ryan’s arrogance and lack of self-awareness. After he is arrested, instead of admitting what happened, he acts like he is the one who chooses to quit.
This is just completely self-delusional, but it’s also really funny. In this way, Ryan definitely captures that relatable feeling of what you're really in denial about something.