About

"I Don't Need It'" is a quote uttered by the titular protagonist from the cartoon series Spongebob Squarepants when he is tempted with a vase of water. Online, the quote is often referenced to convey a strong desire for a tempting item.

Origin

On May 1st, 1999, the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Tea at the Treedome" was broadcast, in which Spongebob attempts to woo an air-breathing squirrel named Sandy. While becoming increasingly thirsty while sitting in Sandy's treedome, Spongebob attempts to resist drinking a glass of watching but telling himself "I don't need it", before finally giving in and yelling "I need it!" (shown below).

Spread

On February 24th, 2010, the "I don't need it…I don't need it…I NEED IT!" Facebook^[4] page was launched. On April 8th, 2012, the Toon$tep SoundCloud channel uploaded a "dubstep": remix of the Spongebob clip (shown below). On October 30th, YouTuber Lycis Ahara posted a clip from the episode, garnering upwards of 1.1 million views and 2,700 comments in the first three years.

On July 3rd, 2014, Redditor infinitepanda submitted an image macro of the Spongebob Squarepants scene to the /r/spongebob subreddit.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References