Memes are today’s Esperanto, transcending location, culture and sometimes even language to communicate common experiences. Wherever you go, cute animals are cute, social awkwardness is painful, and nobody likes jeans with fake pockets.
But there are some memes that are especially transcendent, well-crafted and universally relatable, almost classics. Think of them as the “Great Gatsby” of internet culture, but with fewer heavy-handed metaphors about the death of the American dream (usually).
Maybe future historians will study our high-quality memes, maybe they won’t (I don’t envy whoever is given the job of explaining exactly what happened with Pepe). If they are, I’d nominate these 25 memes for inclusion into the literary canon.