I Can Live With That

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A Stock Phrase which can be used one of two contradictory ways:

  • Type 1: Someone is resigned/willing to accept(ing) a negative situation: that he's a failure, that he's acting in an evil manner, that his actions will cause problems, etc.
  • Type 2: A person gets an unexpected break or finds out that things aren't as bad as they thought.

In other words Type 1 is basically the "negative" version: "You've rescued your wife, but the bus full of nuns drove into the swamp and exploded, and she had a heart attack! You are doomed to be single forever!" "... I can live with that."

Type 2 is the "positive" version, where some unlikely or contrived bit of fortune lands in your lap. "What the... the Big Bad's getaway jet just ingested a flock of flying monkeys and crashed in flames before we could shoot him down." "I can live with that."

Compare Shrug Take.

Examples of I Can Live With That include:

Type 1

Comic Books

"A lot of people say I'm a uniformed thug, no better than the scum I hunt down...a fascist cop...a glorified Nazi...a legalized vigilante, handing out his own highly suspect street "justice"... someone with a pathological hatred of superheroes, reveling at the chance to beat the hell out of them. That sounds fair. I can live with that."

Film

FBI Special Agent Johnson: Figure we take out the terrorists. Lose 20, 25 percent of the hostages, tops.
FBI Agent Johnson: I can live with that.

Steve Zissou: I wanted to give you a heads-up on what I thought of the piece...
Jane Winslett-Richardson: You read it. What did you think?
Steve: Well, I was a little upset at first. I mean, obviously people are going to think I'm a showboat, and a little bit of a prick. But then I thought... that's me. I said those things, I did those things. I can live with that.

Eddie Martel: I'm still an All-Pro quarterback with two Super Bowl rings. You'll never be anything more than a replacement player.
Shane Falco: Yeah. Yeah, I can live with that.

Live-Action TV

  • The Trope Namer is the magnificent Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season six episode "In the Pale Moonlight", which is one of the most controversial, polarizing episodes in the entire franchise's history. Detractors of Deep Space Nine absolutely hated it because it was savagely dark. Fans of Deep Space Nine consider it one of the best if not the best episodes of the entire series, for exactly the same reasons. The Federation and their Klingon allies are losing the war against the Dominion and their Cardassian allies, and the only other great power in the Alpha Quadrant, the Romulans, have so far remained neutral. Sisko realizes the only hope for victory is to convince the Romulans to join the war on the side of the Federation. With the help of Garak he gets a convicted criminal out of a Klingon prison to create an entirely fake record to "prove" to the Romulans that the Dominion is planning to betray them. Sisko even has to pay another criminal using bioweapons (no questions asked) to obtain an authentic Cardassian data rod to record it on. However, Garak knew that the recording probably would not pass any closer examination and that Sisko was not ruthless enough to go all the way they needed to reach their goal. So when the Romulan senator Vreenak realized that "It's a fake!!!", Garak had a bomb planted on his ship that would be traced back to the Dominion. Any salvage team that would go through the debris would find the recording and all its tiny flaws would be attributed to damage caused by the explosion. He also assassinated the man who created the record, just to be sure. Everything went as he had planned and the Romulans joined the war on the side with the Federation.

Sisko: So this is a huge victory for "the good guys"! This may even be the turning point of the entire war. There is even a "welcome to the fight" party tonight in the ward room. So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it...

  • The Dexter episode "The British Invasion"

Debra Morgan: You're a little weird, Dex.
Dexter Morgan: That's not gonna change. I'm gonna be this way forever.
Debra: I can live with that.

House: If we were all satisfied with what we had what a beautiful world it would be. We'd all slowly starve to death in our own filth but at least we'd be happy. Listen, I need your self worth to hang on this job. For kicking ass to be all that lets you rise above miserable. If waking up in the morning is enough, I don't need you.
Foreman: I can live with that.

    • "Lockdown"

Taub: We have a tiny window of opportunity to gain some insight into our colleagues... Okay, what if we just snooped on our boss?
Foreman: I think I can live with that.

  • Bones episode "The Witch in the Wardrobe"

Dr. Jack Hodgins: Okay, fine. No more compliments. You don't look good today. Your smile is average at best. And it is *not* cool that we finally get to work together again in the field.
Angela Montenegro: ...Okay fine, I can live with that.

Haley James: Um... I was just alphabetising our CDs.
Nathan Scott: So what?
Haley: So, 'Natalie Merchant' after 'NOZ' and 'Wilco' before the 'Wu-Tang Clan'?
Nathan: So you listen to crummy music. I can live with that.

  • NCIS episode "Enigma"

Gibbs: [as they're going after Gibbs' CO] You take a shot at him, you answer to me!
FBI Agent Fornell: I can live with that.

  • Heroes episode "Chapter Two: Lizards"

Takezo Sensei: You can make me the hero she sees in me.
Hiro Nakamura: As long as you stop drinking.
Takezo: No promises.
Hiro: [in Japanese, to himself] I can live with that.

Buffy Summers: Uh, last night... At the party, you wanted to tell me something?
Riley Finn: Oh, yeah. Very important stuff. I don't remember any of it now. But you would have been fascinated, possibly even moved. Did Willow tell you I like cheese?
Buffy: You're a little peculiar.
Riley: [smiles] I can live with that.

Angel: Okay, so we're both rude. You know what? I can live with that.

    • "The Thin Dead Line"

Angel: I thought you might want to know. I took care of our cop problem.
Detective Lockley: Crime reports from that precinct. Up until three months ago, there was a murder every two weeks, a rape every two days, a robbery every hour and a half. That's what we just gave back to the people in that community.
Angel: I can live with that.

Malcolm: Her boyfriend is Aaron Seponevic. Have you ever seen that guy? If he sees you making out with his girlfriend, he's gonna kill you! [snip]
Reese: From now on, when I walk by, people are gonna say, "What happened to that guy's face?". And someone'll say, "That's Reese. He made out with Aaron Seponevic's girlfriend." And I can live with that.

Leo McGarry: Any downside?
C.J. Cregg: I'll feel stupid.
Leo: I can live with that.

Pauline Lamb: Don't forget you've got the school thing today. If Louisa Glasson gets it, there's a bit of a party later at the Crab.
Dr. Martin Ellingham: What happens if she doesn't?
Pauline: No one in Portwenn will talk to you.
Martin: I can live with that.

Davis: Don't tell me about corruption. We're trying to make things right, and if getting the really bad people off the street means I gotta fudge the truth a little bit every once in a while, I can live with that.

Web Comics

  • In Homestuck, this is practically Aradia's catchphrase. Even when faced with the inevitable destruction of their universe.

AA: i'm 0kay with that
AA: i'm 0kay with al0t 0f things

Agatha: "I'm the bad guy, because, for whatever reason, you didn't tell your nasty little friend who you are. And now she's sad. So you're mad at me because now she's all sweet and teary and needs rescuing. And I'm the evil madgirl with the death ray and the freakish ancestors and the town full of minions and the horde of Jagers and the homicidal castle full of sycophantic evil geniuses and fun-sized hunter-killer monster clanks and goodness knows what else--" [beat while Agatha realizes what she just said] "And you know what? I can work with that!"

Western Animation

Spike: [while Norman dangles him over a cliff] You can't kill me! If you do, you'll be no better than me!
Norman: [drops him] I can live with that.

SpongeBob: Don't get me wrong, Patrick. It's great that we helped that guy out but there's no one else in town to sell chocolate bars to. Let's face it Patrick, we're failures.
Patrick: I can live with that.

    • In the Fanboy and Chum Chum episode "The Janitor Strikes Back", after the two manage to get permission to chew gum in school from the janitor.

Janitor Poopatine: Alright, alright! You can have your gum! And chew it, too.
Fanboy & Chum Chum: YAY!!!
Janitor Poopatine: But no taffy!
Fanboy: Ah, we can live with that.

Walker: My world will have no crime, violence, or pain.
Robin: You can add free will to that list, too!
Walker: A small price to pay for order.
Batman: Your order. For your select few!
Walker: Excuse me, but I fail to see the problem with that.

Real Life

  • An anecdote regarding a conversation between President Joe Biden and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (which Biden has since confirmed as true):

Biden: Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul.
Putin: We understand one another.

Type 2

Comic Books

[Stephen begging Hollie's gay roommate Joseph to make an album for Sex Bob-omb in volume 4.]
Stephen: Joseph!!! Can you record our album? Sex Bob-omb needs to record an album! We need to take it to the next level! You saw us play in volume 3, right? We aren't all that sucky, right???
Joseph: ...Okay, I'll do it. But only because I find you attractive.
Stephen: I can live with that!!!

Film

  • Cube. Upon reaching the exit:

Worth: I have nothing... to live for out there.
Leaven: What is out there?
Worth: Boundless human stupidity.
Leaven: I can live with that.

Live-Action TV

Quark: I just wanted them to cross paths, so that the deal would fall through.
Sisko: It fell through, all right. Hagath and Gaila barely managed to get off the station alive. [snip] I wouldn't count on seeing your former business partners again.
Quark: I can live with that.

  • Charmed episode "Something Wicca This Way Goes". The sisters change into magical disguises so everyone will think they're dead.

New Piper: Cute. I can live with that.

  • Wings episode "Roy Crazy"

Roy Biggins: So what you're saying is, she's not interested in me, that I don't mean anything to her. She just wants to get me into bed and use me like some cheap piece of meat?
Brian Hackett: Exactly.
Roy: I can live with that!

Web Comics

  • In The Order of the Stick, when Miko dies, and is guided to the afterlife. She is told she won't be a restored to Paladin status, but at least her only friend in the world will be able to visit her.

Western Animation

Teacher: Your report was obviously fabricated, Mr. Buttowski. But you entertained us all. So you pass. Barely.
Kick: I can live with that.

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