I Can Live With That
- 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 of the trope example: "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: Type 1
Film
FBI Special Agent Johnson: Figure we take out the terrorists. Lose 20, 25 percent of the hostages, tops. |
Steve Zissou: I wanted to give you a heads-up on what I thought of the piece... |
Eddie Martel: I'm still an All-Pro quarterback with two Super Bowl rings. You'll never be anything more than a replacement player. |
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 it's 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... |
- Dexter episode "The British Invasion"
Debra Morgan: You're a little weird, Dex. |
- House
- "Forever"
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. |
- "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? |
- 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. |
- One Tree Hill episode "The Desperate Kingdom of Love"
Haley James: Um... I was just alphabetising our CDs. |
- NCIS episode "Enigma"
Gibbs: [as they're going after Gibbs' CO] You take a shot at him, you answer to me! |
- Heroes episode "Chapter Two: Lizards"
Takezo Sensei: You can make me the hero she sees in me. |
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Initiative"
Buffy Summers: Uh, last night... At the party, you wanted to tell me something? |
- Angel
- "Blood Money"
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. |
- Malcolm in the Middle episode "Watching the Baby"
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] |
- The West Wing episode "The Lame Duck Congress"
Leo McGarry: Any downside? |
- Doc Martin episode "In Loco"
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. |
- Third Watch episode "Alone Again, Naturally"
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. |
Comic Books
- Marshal Law when he's describing himself:
"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." |
Western Animation
- Mighty Max episode "Norman's Conquest"
Spike: [while Norman dangles him over a cliff] You can't kill me! If you do, you'll be no better than me! |
- SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Chocolate with Nuts”
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. |
- 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. |
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 |
Type 2
Film
- Cube. Upon reaching the exit:
Worth: I have nothing... to live for out there. |
Live Action TV
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Business as Usual"
Quark: I just wanted them to cross paths, so that the deal would fall through. |
- 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 & use me like some cheap piece of meat? |
Comic Books
[Stephen begging Hollie's gay roommate Joseph to make an album for Sex Bob-omb in volume 4.] |
Western Animation
- Kick Buttowski has this exchange after Kick tells the class about his Indiana Jones-esque quest for the Holy Grail of skateboards.
Teacher: Your report was obviously fabricated, Mr. Buttowski. But you entertained us all. So you pass. Barely. |
Webcomics
- In 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.