In modern film discourse, there's a tendency to equate "good" with "naturalistic." And yet, the dialogue of The Matrix may be artificial, heightened, and devoid of quips found in a modern blockbuster, but it's full of memorable lines. No character has more of them than Morpheus, Neo's stalwart ally and guide, who helps lead him down "the rabbit hole" to the truth about his world. Celebrated actor Laurence Fishburne's portrayal of the semi-mystic future leader is one of the franchise's biggest assets.

The Matrix follows the outline of the hero's journey, and Morpheus is the mentor in that narrative. Portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, Morpheus is the one who guides Neo (and the audience) through the film and the world it's set in. Only an actor capable of the charisma and mystique that Fishburne pulls off could make the part work so well, and some of his lines – particularly in the first movie – have become quotable classics.

Updated on April 16, 2024 by Robert Vaux: The Matrix franchise will be producing a fifth entry, eliciting renewed interest in the earlier films and drawing attention back to Fishburne's memorable performance. Five new quotes from the first film have been added to the article, and the previous entries have been expanded with new information. The formatting has been updated to meet CBR's current stylistic guidelines.

15 "He's Beginning To Believe."

He's beginning to believe.

Throughout The Matrix, Neo has actively questioned his status as a potential messiah, fueled by the Oracle's cryptic answers to his questions and the fact that the abilities he's supposed to possess only arrive in fits and starts. Morpheus, on the other hand, never truly doubted. Both Neo and the audience are induced to believe that he's on a fool's errand for most of the film's running time: even after Morpheus is captured by the machines.

Then, during Neo's final showdown with Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith, that equation changes. The former skeptic begins to feel his potential: successfully facing down an Agent for the first time, which leads directly to his resurrection as The One. As he prepares for his showdown, Morpheus confirms Neo's mindset and the possibility that the prophecy may be coming true after all.

14 "I Have Spent My Entire Life Looking For You."

You may have spent the last few years looking for me, but I have spent my entire life looking for you.

Morpheus spends the early scenes in the film as a figure of mystery, who Neo is searching for but never seems to find. Their fateful meeting constitutes one of The Matrix's big surprises, as Morpheus awakens Neo to the artificial nature of his perceived world. It starts with a reversal, as the supposedly legendary Morpheus conveys far more importance on the seemingly anonymous late 90s hacker who has just stumbled into his presence.

Fishburne opens the scene with the masterful delivery of a very cryptic line. It elicits far more questions than answers, in both Neo and the audience, which puts viewers firmly in the hero's corner as Morpheus blows the lid off of his reality. He opens their exchange with a line about his own quest for "the One," reversing the dynamic and making Neo the important one for reasons that have yet to be revealed.

13 "Free Your Mind."

Free your mind.

The Matrix itself is essentially an optical illusion: electronic signals beamed directly into the human brain that convince it of the veracity of the machines' phony reality. Morpheus and his resistance fighters have learned ways to bend the rules of that reality in order to accomplish seemingly superhuman feats. He believes Neo to be a prodigy on that front, and needs him to fulfill his potential as quickly as possible.

His admonition that Neo free his mind comes just before he makes a spectacular leap from the virtual rooftop where they're standing. It hits Neo like a thunderclap — Reeves "whoa"s like he's never "whoa"ed before — and announces that the rules have well and truly changed. Once again, Morpheus is speaking to the audience as much as Neo.

12 "Stop Trying To Hit Me And Hit Me!"

Stop trying to hit me and hit me!

Training montages tend to be deadly in action movies: slowing the pace down and dwelling on overused clichés solely to cover the necessary development of the hero's skills. The Matrix turns the cliché on its ear in its famous dojo scene, as Neo tests his freshly minted kung-fu abilities on Morpheus. The older man intends to see just how far he can push this would-be messiah, as well as knocking some of the overconfidence out of him before it gets him killed.

What at first looks like a standard issue fight scene with a little spice soon turns into a more philosophical lesson. Neo has only recently been freed from the Matrix and still feels bound by its artificial laws of physics. Morpheus isn't trying to test his combat skills so much as get him to realize what he can do when he breaks those laws.

11 "I Can Only Show You The Door. You Have To Walk Through It."

I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it.

What at first appears to be a bit of bubblegum Zen becomes a set-up for one of The Matrix's quieter twists, as Neo and Morpheus visit the Oracle for the first time. Like Morpheus himself, the film builds her up quite a bit before revealing her, leaving the audience to guess who and what she might be. The profundity of his line just before they enter her apartment suggests a figure of almost holy reverence.

It's a slick fake-out: the Oracle turns out to be a sweet grandmotherly type who chats with Neo in her kitchen while baking cookies. Far from being intimidated, Neo finds himself relaxing, which allows the Oracle to tell him what he needs to hear much more easily. It wouldn't work quite so well without Morpheus's line serving as a quiet misdirect.

10 “There Is A Difference Between Knowing The Path And Walking The Path.”

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Much of Neo's journey throughout The Matrix is based on leaps of faith. It starts with his initial choice to take the Red Pill and discover the truth of the Matrix, even if he's not certain that what lay before him was that truth. However, once he was free of his shackles and in the real world, he had to trust he was the One despite his own doubts and the fact the Oracle said he wasn't.

Morpheus In short, as Morpheus says, there's a difference between knowing and doing, which is good advice in many different contexts. It's essentially a repackaged version of Yoda's famous "do or do not, there is no try" from The Empire Strikes Back, given a millennial twist for a new generation.

9 “The Matrix Is A System, Neo. That System Is Our Enemy."

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy.

Morpheus delivers this speech while he and Neo traverse the "Woman In The Red Dress" program. Morpheus' argument echoes the masses who defend harmful institutions because they can't see an alternative. After all, the parallels between the Matrix and the alienation of late capitalism are obvious; when the film begins, Neo is an office drone. This theme of how individual wills are sublimated to the whole of institutions foreshadows Reloaded's twist that the myth of the One is actually the Machines' narrative for producing controlled opposition.

It's particularly effective because it's disguised as basic plot exposition. Morpheus is explaining the rules of the game: how the Matrix works and what their opponents are capable of. The Wachowskis' strong writing adds so much more to it without appearing to add anything: combining with the stark visuals to provide one of The Matrix's numerous memorable scenes.

8 "What Is Real? How Do You Define Real?"

What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

It goes without saying that the nature of reality is a key theme in The Matrix. Morpheus utters the line when he and Neo talk in the Construct and Neo argues their surroundings aren't real. Aside from the philosophical implications, this line serves two key narrative functions. One, it reinforces for the audience that what's happening in the virtual world is "real" – the stakes are just as high inside the Matrix as they are outside. Two, Neo's awakening as the One is him gaining a heightened perception of the Matrix, enabling him to bend its world to his will.

Once again, Morpheus does a great deal of work on this front: getting viewers up to speed on how the universe works while positing some deeper questions to think about as the action ramps up. It also helps them slip into the mindset that the film wants and encourages them to step outside their conventional ways of thinking.

7 "No, Neo, I'm Trying To Tell You That When You're Ready, You Won't Have To."

No, Neo, I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

The Matrix may be a thoughtful film with enough insight to fill a Philosophy 101 course, but it's also one of the coolest, most badass action movies ever made. Towards the end of Neo and Morpheus' talk in the Red Dress program, Morpheus stresses the danger that Agents pose and that Neo is their only hope against them. When Neo asks if he can dodge bullets, Morpheus answers with the above.

The scene is both a frightening preview of what the Agents are capable of and an exciting prelude for Neo's actualization as the One. Morpheus's dialogue is peppered with need-to-know exposition, but he gives it an elegance that plays into the scene's already striking visuals.

6 "All I'm Offering Is The Truth."

All I'm offering is the truth.

When Neo gestures for the Red Pill, Morpheus tells him the above to make sure he's confident in his choice. Neo considers for half a second before swallowing the Red Pill. Considering the true state of the world and the hardship the free humans live under, it makes sense that Morpheus would scan for last-second hesitancy. It also speaks of the kind of people his crew targets for extracting – people who have such an itch in the back of their minds that something isn't right. To those kind of people, the truth is everything.

It's also important because of the way Neo has come to lionize Morpheus in the early part of the film. The enigmatic revolutionary appears to have all the answers, and by the time Neo reaches him, it feels like he's finally reached safe haven. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Morpheus's cautious statement is intended to cushion the impending blow.

5 "Welcome To The Real World."

Welcome to the real world.

The first time we see Morpheus and his crew outside the Matrix, they're saving Neo from a watery death. As the freshly freed former "copper top" is pulled into the Nebuchadnezzar, Morpheus looks down at him and offers him this welcome. The earlier parts of this sequence are meant to disorient. Neo awakens from his pod at the power plant and comes face to face with the "Doc Bot" machine.

Up to this point, the film had given little indication of science-fiction, so the reveal is as shocking for the viewer as it is for Neo. Seeing Morpheus' familiar face provides momentary relief before the grim gravity of his words sets in. It punctuates the movie's biggest twist and answers the audience's myriad questions in the best way possible: by opening up a whole new world to explore.

4 "Have You Ever Had A Dream, Neo, That You Were So Sure Was Real?"

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?

Just after Neo has accepted the Red Pill, and just before he awakens from the Matrix, Morpheus asks him the above question. He presses further, asking how he would be able to tell the real world from a dream if he was unable to wake himself from it. These questions are likely meant to prepare Neo for what's about to happen to him; he'll be truly awake for the first time in his life, and in a world that will seem like a nightmare.

It's also a line riddled with subtext. For one, Morpheus takes his name from a Roman god of dreams, and his mission is to free others from what is, essentially, a shared dream. It also suggests that – once reality has shifted in this manner – it can shift again, meaning that dreams and reality may be impossible to distinguish moving forward. Most directly, it's another admonition to buckle up: as Cypher says, Kansas is going bye-bye.

3 "The Matrix Is Everywhere."

The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth... that you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

The true nature of the Matrix is common knowledge now. However, it was as much a mystery for audiences seeing it for the first time in 1999 as it is for Neo in the film's first act. The film arrived seemingly out of nowhere that April – stealing the thunder of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in the process – and took full advantage of the public's lack of exposure to its world. The trailers and promotional material actively emphasized the "mystery" of the Matrix, and its stylized future universe made it easy to keep the details under wraps. Most of the movie's big twists came as a huge surprise to viewers seeing it in the theaters for the first time.

Morpheus' introduction is when the viewer and Neo alike start to get real hints about what his mysterious thing is; the above quote elaborates on the mystery while still tantalizing viewers with unrevealed information. It describes the Matrix with absolute accuracy, and yet it leaves all of the important parts unmentioned. The build-up is exquisite.

2 "Unfortunately, No One Can Be Told What The Matrix Is. You Have To See It For Yourself."

Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

The above is Morpheus' reasoning for why those who wish to learn the truth about the Matrix must choose between the blue pill and the red pill. It's an understandable position; if he just told them, they would dismiss him and his followers as lunatics. Even after Neo sees the real world with his own eyes and learns the world he knew was fiction, his gut impulse is denial. Human beings prefer comfortable lies to ugly truths, and Morpheus needs to move carefully if he wants to properly open Neo's eyes.

It also adds to his sense of elusiveness, which sometimes comes off as underhanded manipulation. As Cypher puts it after his betrayal, "If you'd told us the truth, we would've told you to shove that red pill right up your ass." It's not quite fair, but it's not inaccurate sometimes. Morpheus is a big-picture kind of character, and he's not above withholding information from an ally if it serves a greater good.

1 "I Show You How Deep The Rabbit-Hole Goes."