Meredith Grey, with her intelligence, humor, friendships, love, and talents, is the most influential character to grace Grey's Anatomy. Without a doubt, she will go through an emotional breakdown once an episode to leave viewers thinking about their lives and, hopefully, feeling inspired. Here are some of my favorite Meredith Grey quotes.

1. "If there's just one piece of advice I can give you, it's this: when there's something you really want, fight for it. Don't give up no matter how hopeless it seems. And when you've lost hope, ask yourself if in 10 years from now, you're gonna wish you gave it just one more shot. Because the best things in life, they don't come free."

2. "Life is not a spectator sport. Win, lose or draw, the game is in progress, whether we want it to be or not. So, go ahead. Argue with the refs, change the rules, cheat a little, take a break, and tend to your wounds. But play. Play. Play hard. Play fast. Play loose and free. Play as if there’s no tomorrow."

3. "But here’s the truth: Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes, change is good. Sometimes, change is everything."

4. "People have scars in all sorts of unexpected places, like secret road maps of their personal histories, diagrams of all their old wounds. Most of our old wounds heal, leaving nothing behind but a scar. But some of them don’t. Some wounds we carry with us everywhere and though the cut’s long gone, the pain still lingers."

5. "Your life is a gift. Accept it. No matter how screwed up or painful it seems to be. Some things are going to work out as if they were destined to happen, as if they were just meant to be."

6. "Change is constant. How we experience change ... that's up to us. It can feel like death or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born all over again."

7. "When you’re little, nighttime is scary because there are monsters hiding right under the bed. When you get older, the monsters are different: self doubt, loneliness, regret ... and though you may be older and wiser, you still find yourself afraid of the dark."

8. "Too often, the thing you want most is the thing you can’t have. Desire leaves us heartbroken. It wears us out; it can wreck your life. But as tough as wanting something can be, the people who suffer the most are those who don’t know what they want."

9. "In life only one thing is certain. Apart from death and taxes, no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your intentions, you are going to make mistakes. You’re going to hurt people. You’re going to get hurt and if you ever want to recover, there’s really only one thing you can say: forgive and forget"

But the greatest of all...

10. "I love you in a really, really big, pretend-to-like-your-taste-in-music, let-you-eat-the-last-piece-of-cheesecake, hold-a-radio-over-my-head-outside-your-window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me."