About this quote

This line names fierce loyalty without softening it. It lets you admire someone for being strong, messy, and a little dangerous at the same time. Say it when you need to stop editing the person you love into something safer. It pushes you to choose honesty over comfort and own that choice.

When to use it

• At family dinner when my parents complain about his tattoos and messy past, I said, 'I've said it before and I mean it: alive or undead, the love of my life is a badass.'
• Introducing my partner to coworkers after he pulled three people from a car wreck, I laughed and told them exactly what I thought: alive or undead, the love of my life is a badass.
• After months in rehab and hard nights, I showed up at his celebration and told the room, 'He fought like hell — alive or undead, the love of my life is a badass.'
• At my book club when we argued about the hero, I grinned and quoted the line because it summed up why I loved him on the page and in real life.