LOUISE: Those who simply wait for information to find them, spend a lot of time sitting by the phone. Those who go out and find it themselves, have something to say when it rings.
RORY: Nietzsche?
LOUISE: Dawson.
Rory is referring to Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a German philosopher whose work has been profoundly influential on Western philosophy. Since the 1960s his work has been a major focus in existentialism, postmodernism, art, literature, psychology, politics, and popular culture.
Louise is referring to Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), the central character on the teen drama series Dawson’s Creek, which aired on television between 1998 and 2003. I cannot verify if Louise’s quote is genuinely from the show, but it sounds like the sort of thing Dawson might have said.
This is a rather unsubtle example of how much more intellectual Rory is compared to Louise.
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