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Marriage Quote by Bruce Willis

"My wife heard me say I love you a thousand times, but she never once heard me say sorry"

About this Quote

There is a swagger to this line that reads like a tough-guy punchline, the kind that plays well in a room that rewards confidence. “I love you” becomes a statistic, a thousand proof-points meant to outweigh one missing word. But the real charge is in the dodge: he’s not talking about love, he’s talking about accountability, and trying to win that argument by volume.

The subtext is classic masculine mythology, especially the Hollywood version: the good man is loyal, expressive “enough,” and therefore exempt from the small humiliations of repair. “Sorry” isn’t just an apology here; it’s a surrender of rank. The quote frames contrition as optional, even weak, while casting repeated affection as a substitute for self-examination. That’s why it stings. Most relationships don’t break from a lack of “I love you.” They erode from the refusal to name harm and change course.

As an actor’s remark, it also feels like a persona leaking through: the Die Hard archetype who solves problems with grit, not vulnerability. The line performs a kind of emotional competency (look how often I said the big thing) while avoiding the harder intimacy of admitting fault. It’s self-protective, a little funny, and a little bleak.

Read generously, it’s an accidental confession: he knows the asymmetry. The thousand “I love you”s aren’t romance; they’re bargaining chips against a single word he couldn’t say.

Quote Details

TopicHusband & Wife
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Willis, Bruce. (2026, January 16). My wife heard me say I love you a thousand times, but she never once heard me say sorry. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-wife-heard-me-say-i-love-you-a-thousand-times-109566/

Chicago Style
Willis, Bruce. "My wife heard me say I love you a thousand times, but she never once heard me say sorry." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-wife-heard-me-say-i-love-you-a-thousand-times-109566/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My wife heard me say I love you a thousand times, but she never once heard me say sorry." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-wife-heard-me-say-i-love-you-a-thousand-times-109566/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.

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Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a Actor from USA.

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