When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!
— Cave Johnson · Portal 2 (2011)
Behind the line
Spoilers for Portal 2
In context
Cave Johnson recorded this for Aperture's old test shafts late in his life, when moon-dust poisoning was killing him, and Chell hears it decades later while making her way through the abandoned lower levels. GLaDOS, now stuck in a potato battery and along for the ride, chimes in with every "Yeah!" as the rant escalates. By the time Cave vows to have his engineers invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down, GLaDOS has decided, "Oh, I like this guy."
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: Portal 2Cave Johnson sectionReference checked
- Combine OverWiki (Fandom): Cave JohnsonDecline of health and death; Portal 2 appearancesReference checked
- Combine OverWiki (Fandom): Portal 2 storylineChapter 5, The EscapeReference checked
Context reviewed
What it means
Our interpretation.
Johnson rejects the familiar advice to adapt when life becomes difficult. His response replaces compromise with an impossible demand that the circumstances themselves be reversed. This is the opening excerpt of a much longer comic outburst.
Sources (1)
- GamesRadar+Quotation list entry for Portal 2: Cave Johnson. Literal selected wording and qualified game-specific credit checked; individual reference scope recorded in source review.Reference checked
Context reviewed
