The Doctor isn’t the only important on Doctor Who, as the companions are just as vital to the story. Some have left a bigger impact than others, with Clara Oswald’s place in the Doctor Who universe cemented, especially considering she’s the longest-serving companion in the revived series.
Clara’s characterization was doubly special because she’d been a character who had reconciled her feelings for the Doctor and the wisdom that came from traveling with him. Over time, it was Clara who taught the Doctor more than he’d realize. In order to remember this great companion, here are 10 of her wisest quotes.
“You’re Not My Boss. You’re One Of My Hobbies.”
The good thing about the transition from the Eleventh Doctor to the Twelfth Doctor was that Clara’s relationship to him was defined through their mutual love of exploring the universe and saving people, with Clara’s former crush on the Doctor going away.
This is why she was also able to put the Doctor in his place when he started talking down to her the way he did to former companions who were in love with him (Martha and Rose, among others), by reminding him that she was her own person without the whole TARDIS business and that the Doctor was the one who needed her more.
“Run You Clever Boy. And Be A Doctor.”
The Doctor and Clara had clearly fallen in love at some point, but the lack of physical romance between them meant they had become increasingly co-dependent on an emotional level, giving way to the Hybrid.
Clara eventually realized that, while she would always love him, the Doctor was better off on his own like she was. In order to separate the Hybrid from the Time Lord, Clara bid him farewell without him realizing it. As a parting gift, she ingrained in him that he should be Doctor a who saves people and not a soldier or a warrior.
“And Don’t Go Forgetting Me Again, Because, Quite Frankly, That Was Offensive.”
Even though the Twelfth Doctor was reaching the point of his regeneration, he just couldn’t go without seeing Clara one more time. After all, most of his life had been built upon his relationship with Clara, whose memory provided him with the last push he needed to regenerate.
Even as a memory, she held her fiery spirit when she playfully berated the Doctor for forgetting her. It was a fitting farewell, seeing as these two had never professed their feelings in full and had let small moments reveal they loved the other.
“Show Me The Stars.”
Out of all the companions the Doctor had by that point, Clara was the first who was in it for the wonder of traveling the universe. Although she did grow to love him, her first love was the prospect of seeing the stars and embracing everything that had ever come or ever would.
It was this unique quality in her that led the Eleventh Doctor to Clara, despite her many fragments dying. While Missy was responsible for bringing them together, it was easily fateful that Clara would spend the rest of her days seeing all there was to see.
“He’s My Best Friend…He’s The Man I Will Always Forgive.”
It took several fights between them, but the Twelfth Doctor and Clara finally reached the point where there was a blanket apology between them, meaning they would forgive one another despite the magnitude of the mistake.
For Clara, it was the realization that she was simultaneously in love with the Doctor and held him as her greatest friend that she accepted she could never go without him. A man who had shown her all of time and space was never going to lead her astray, as far as she believed.
“You. You Are The Doctor.”
The Eleventh Doctor appreciated Clara because she was just the kind of person he needed, someone who reminded him frequently what he wanted to hear. In his last moments before regeneration, the Doctor heard Clara tell him that he was the Doctor.
This brought the Doctor the courage to accept that this version of him was at an end - it’s understandable it was difficult for him since he had been this incarnation for 1200 years - and he embraced his regeneration by looking at Clara as the last face the Eleventh’s face saw.
“Let Me Be Brave.”
Clara turned out to be even braver than the Doctor, as she faced her death with dignity. Despite knowing it was her own doing that she would be dying, Clara didn’t rue over it and took the time to encourage the Doctor to remain the person he was.
As for Clara herself, she walked toward her demise rather than run away like a coward. Since it was clear her time was up, Clara wanted to look death in the eye and tell it she wasn’t afraid. Even if she was, she did a remarkable job in convincing everyone that she was indeed brave.
“Fear Makes Companions Of Us All.”
As it turned out, all of the Doctor’s life was shaped by Clara, who had time traveled over to Gallifrey where she encountered the First Doctor as a child. Had it not been Clara tenderly consoling the terrified Doctor that everything was okay, then we might not have had the Doctor as the person we know him at all.
Clara would relay wise words - something even the audience watching should learn from - that fear can be a superpower, as it reminds you to be the best person you can be, which is someone who is kind, compassionate, and that fear can bring people together.
“You Said Memories Become Stories When We Forget Them…Maybe Some Of Them Become Songs.”
Although she knew that bringing back the Doctor’s memories of her wouldn’t be best for the universe, Clara couldn’t help herself and tried to make the Doctor remember her. When she realized it couldn’t be done, Clara was in the process of leaving before she heard the Doctor play his tribute song, not knowing the person before him was the Clara he was searching for.
In order to keep some part of her love for the Doctor alive in him, Clara suggested that simply keeping memories of a person wasn’t enough - making songs that can act as stories could do just as well. The Doctor agreed, and we know for sure that Clara did as well.
“I Always Know.”
You could have the Doctor in any shape or form, but you could never deceive Clara over who he might be. In this instance, even the Doctor’s past forms in the War Doctor and Tenth Doctor didn’t know that the Eleventh Doctor was feeling blue, save for Clara.
When the Doctor asked her how she knew of his despondency, Clara responded with a peck on the cheek and a stroke of his face and told him she would always know him. This was proven when Clara could tell the War Doctor was an incarnation of the Doctor just by looking at those sad, old eyes. She might be gone from our screens, but at least we can still check her out in other mediums. And who wouldn’t want more of Clara Oswald’s wisdom?
