21 Years Later, Michael Scott’s Best Line Is Still The Greatest Quote In The Office’s History

Michael Scott delivered some of TV’s funniest lines during his time as Dunder Mifflin Scranton’s branch manager in The Office, but none of them says more about him as a character than one standout quote from the show’s second season. In a single short line of dialogue, Steve Carell’s character defines the entire dynamic within his workplace.

Carell’s best performances as MIchael Scott tend to involve groundbreaking physical comedy and cringeworthy social interactions. But occasionally the sitcom also delivers succinct, self-contained jokes straight from the script which are worth just as much. The Office’s season 2 episode “The Fight” features one such joke.

The line in question arrives in the aftermath of a highly unorthodox and unexpected afternoon of recreation for Michael’s team. It’s when Michael is back at his desk, reflecting on this experience, that he utters arguably his most celebrated quote.

Besides being one of the funniest episodes in The Office, “The Fight” features key moments in the arcs of several characters, including Michael himself. We see the extent of his personal insecurities horribly exposed, but he also manages to make a mockery of Dwight in the process. As usual, though, the episode’s last laugh is at Michael.

Michael Scott’s Best Line Is From The Office Season 2

“The Fight” sees Michael and his unofficial assistant Dwight challenge each other to a physical fight. They bring the entire team with them to Dwight’s karate dojo, where he practices the martial art alongside young children. There, the pair engage in a scrap which has little to do with karate, and results in mutual humiliation.

Still, Michael claims victory over Dwight, who returns to the office with his tail between his legs, embarrassed that his karate skills perhaps aren’t all he thought they were. Of course, Michael has so little self-awareness that he feels thoroughly triumphant, despite causing as much embarrassment to himself as he did to Dwight.

It’s his sense of triumphalism that results in The Office’s best quote of all time. Speaking to the camera in a private interview, he ponders the question of being respected as a boss. "Would I rather be feared or loved?” he asks himself. “Um, easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."

Apart from being laugh-out-loud hilarious, this brilliant quip, delivered deadpan by Steve Carell, reveals the true essence of Michael Scott in relation to his subordinates. As comically ridiculous as his misunderstanding of the dichotomy between love and fear is, his answer also tells us about the basic desire motivating his every action while at work.

This Quote Sums Up Michael As A Boss Perfectly

Michael Scott is essentially an outsider who is desperate, more than anything else, to be liked and given attention. Many of The Office’s most ingenious scenes play on this fundamental conceit in different ways.

On the one hand, his position of power and authority as office boss gives him the platform to demand attention and respect. On the other hand, almost everything he does undermines this position and ensures that whenever people give him attention they don’t respect him. Yet, Michael is just a kid at heart, and as soft-centered as office managers come.

He conflates attention with respect, and respect with being liked, just as a class clown might do in middle school. His quote from the end of “The Fight” encapsulates this lovable character flaw perfectly, with its many layers of irony.

Everything Michael does in The Office from this moment on, between the early episodes of season 2 and his goodbye moment in season 7, is framed within the real meaning of this single line. Michael just needs to be loved – albeit to a scary degree – and no one can begrudge him that.