The 52 Best Breakup Lines (Said in Real Life) - The New York Times

"It's not me — it's 100% about you. Unless you turn into a different person, this will never work."
Tricia Cramblet, Seattle

"Mispronounce Eyjafjallajökull once more and we're done," my Icelandic boyfriend said.
That volcano had recently erupted.
Barbora Bukovska, London

"I couldn't leave you," he said, "so I did something awful so you would leave me."
After my partner of two years made sure I saw him in bed with another woman, I'd begged him to tell me why he had been so cruel.
Julie Melrose, Northampton, Mass.

"It's not you," I said. "It's not me. It's us."
Boyd Crow, Morro Bay, Calif.

"We can break up, or you can stop doing this. Either way, my life is going to get better."
I was fed up with her constant, last-minute cancellations.
Jeremy Lee, Phoenix

"The problem with us," he said, "is that we both need a wife."
Donna Herring, Hancock, Maine

"I never loved you," he said. "I loved the way you loved me."
Eleanor Hutchins, New York, N.Y.

"You care what people think, you care where you went to school and you like brands," he said. "I think I need to be with someone who cares more about the world than themselves."
Abbey Glover, San Francisco

"The 52 Best Breakup Lines (Said in Real Life)" - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/style/best-breakup-lines.html
By Miya Lee and Daniel Jones, Dec. 15, 2025