Star Wars: The best quotes from the original trilogy

“I love you…I know” Leia Organa & Han Solo

This isn’t so much a quote as it is a combination of quotes, but it is easily my favorite back and forth in the entire saga. This line is so great it beats out some of Yoda‘s classics like “Do or do not, there is no try,” “Wars not make one great”, and “Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter.”

Han Solo is facing what could be his death. The carbon freezing chamber on Bespin hasn’t been used on humans and he’s basically a test subject. Lando is a gambling man and doesn’t like the odds of his friend surviving the process.

Throughout the film, Han is trying to woo Leia and earlier is able to steal a passionate kiss from her. As he’s about to be lowered to what could be his death, Leia breaks free from the stormtrooper that his holding her, and tells Han, “I love you.” This is clearly what he has wanted all movie long, and instead of giving the standard “I love you too” he responds in a way that only the cocksure scoundrel can, with “I know.”

Keeping his cocky demeanor even in the face of almost certain death, brought Han Solo to the highest level of badass there is. He clearly loves Leia too, and this is his way of telling her while staying true to himself. It’s such a smooth line, and one of the best all-time responses in the history of cinema, if not the best.