"I'm a Simple Man"

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About

"I Am a Simple Man…" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Ron Swanson in an episode of American TV sitcom Parks and Recreation. On the Internet, it is often celebrated as one of the most notable quotes attributed to the caricature of a macho man and also used in reaction images to express one's appreciation for things of ordinary nature.

Origin

The quote was originally featured in Episode 8, Season 2 of the American TV sitcom Parks and Recreation titled "Ron and Tammy," which aired on November 5th, 2009. In the episode, Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman) shares a story about a delightful breakfast experience he had after the night of reunion with his ex-wife Tammy.

"I'm a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast food. But this stock photo I bought at a framing store isn't real. Today I got the real thing. A naked Tammy made me breakfast this morning. I should have taken a picture of it."

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 4.93 million household viewers and met with highly positive reviews from the critics; since its airing, "Ron and Tammy" has been widely cited as one of the best Parks and Recreation episodes, with many commentators praising Offerman's performance in particular.

Spread

On November 9th, 2010, Redditor GilChesterton submitted an Imgur screenshot of the scene from the "Ron & Tammy" episode to /r/funny in a post titled "I'm a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast food," which garnered 191 points on Reddit and more than 56,000 views on Imgur.

On May 30th, 2011, Parks and Recreation's Tumblr fan blog Ron Swanson Says posted a custom image of Ron Swanson's character accompanied by the quote, racking up over 6,100 notes over the course of four and a half years.

On June 19th, 2011, Redditor Xophe submitted a rage comic depicting a job interview wherein the interviewer asks "what are some of your loftiest aspirations," to which the applicant responds by saying "running my own business some day" in a post titled "I'm a simple man with simple goals." Prior to its archival, the post accumulated 208 points.

On July 14th, 2013, Redditor Harbonnah submitted an image macro instance of the "So I Got That Goin' For Me, Which Is Nice" advice animal meme expressing joy after contributing the top comment in a post that came close to being featured on the front page of the website. Prior to its archival, the post gained over 1,900 points.

On April 19th, 2014, Redditor thisBkewl submitted an advice animal-style image macro of Ron Swanson with the caption reading "I'm a Simple Man, I See Boobs I Upvote" to /r/AdviceAnimals, where the post garnered 1,795 points prior to its archival. In the following years, Redditor thisBkewl's caption "I'm a Simple Man, I See Boobs I Upvote" went on to spawn a small collection of its own derivative image macros featuring other stereotypically macho characters portrayed in popular culture.

Various Examples

On Reddit and Imgur, Ron Swanson's memorable quote has been frequently used as the title of various image posts illustrating one's appreciation for basic pleasures of an "average joe" person, whether it be choices of leisurely pastimes, desktop wallpapers or even preferences in meat for grilling (shown below).