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The Remains of the Day Quotes, The Remains of the Day Important
Quotes, Quotations, Sayings from the
Kazuo Ishiguro novel |
It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake
the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now
for some days.
The Remains of the Day
First lines of novel, Prologue - Darlington
Hall. Stevens, the aging butler of Darlington Hall, is about
to embark on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into
the English countryside and into his past. |
It has been my privilege to see the best of England over the
years, sir, within these very walls.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens to Mr Farraday, Prologue - Darlington
Hall. |
To see the best before I have properly begun would be somewhat
premature.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens, Prologue - Darlington Hall. |
The English landscape at its finest - such as I saw this morning
- possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations,
however more superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess.
It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape
to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the
world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term
'greatness.'...And yet what precisely is this greatness?...I
would say that it is the very lack of obvious drama or spectacle
that sets the beauty of our land apart. What is pertinent is
the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as
though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness,
and feels no need to shout it.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens, on the greatness of Britain. Day
One, Evening - Salisbury. |
I can declare that he was a truly good man at heart, a gentleman
through and through, and one I am today proud to have given
my best years of service to.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens of Lord Darlington. Day Two, Morning
- Salisbury. |
"He was my enemy," he was saying, "but he always
behaved like a gentleman. We treated each other decently over
six months of shelling each other. He was a gentleman doing
his job and I bore him no malice. I said to him: 'Look here,
we're enemies now and I'll fight you with all I've got. But
when this wretched business is over, we shan't have to be enemies
any more and we'll have a drink together.' Wretched thing is,
this treaty is making a liar out of me. I mean to say, I told
him we wouldn't be enemies once it was all over. But how can
I look him in the face and tell him that's turned out to be
true?"
The Remains of the Day
Stevens recalls Lord Darlington speaking
of his German friend Herr Bremann. Day Two, Morning - Salisbury. |
I wonder if it wouldn't have been better if the Almighty had
created us all as - well- as sort of plants. You know, truly
embedded in the soil. Then none of this rot about wars and boundaries
would have come up in the first place...But we could still have
chaps like ytou taking messages back and forth, bringing tea,
that sort of thing. Otherwise, how would we get anything done?
The Remains of the Day
Reginald Cardinal. Day Two, Morning - Salisbury. |
By the very nature of a witticism, one is given very little
time to assess its various possible repercussions before one
is called to give voice to it, and one gravely risks uttering
all manner of unsuitable things if one has not first acquired
the necessary skill and experience.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens. Day Three, Morning - Taunton,
Somerset. |
"Surely I don't have to remind you that our professional
duty is not to our own foibles and sentiments, but to the wishes
of our employer."
"If you dismiss my girls tomorrow, it will be wrong, a
sin as any sin ever was one and I will not continue to work
in such a house."
The Remains of the Day
Stevens and head housekeeper Miss Kenton
argue, over his planned dismissal of two servents because they
are Jews, on orders of Lord Darlington. Day Three, Evening -
Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
Had I been anyone worthy of any respect at all, I dare say
I would have left Darlington Hall long ago... It was cowardice,
Mr. Stevens. Simple cowardice. Where could I have gone?... There,
that's all my high principles amount to. I feel so ashamed of
myself... I just couldn't bring myself to leave.
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton to Stevens. Day Three, Evening
- Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend?
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton to Stevens. Day Three , Evening
- Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
You do not like pretty girls to be on the staff. Might it
be that our Mr Stevens fears distraction? Can it be that our
Mr Stevens is flesh and blood after all and cannot fully trust
himself?... It is a guilty little smile you have on, Mr Stevens.
And I've noticed how you can hardly bear to look at Lisa. Now
it is beginning to become clear why you objected so strongly
to her.
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton to Stevens. Day Three, Evening
- Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
She's so foolish. She might have had a real career in front
of her. She had ability. So many young women like her throw
away their chances, and all for what?
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton on young housemaid Lisa running
away with second footman, leaving a letter saying they did not
have money but they had love and each other and that was all
anyone could ever want. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe, near
Tavistock, Devon. |
Indeed... Such a waste, as you say.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens agrees with Miss Kenton, on maid
Lisa quitting to run off with footman. Day Three, Evening -
Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
Then she was standing before me, and suddenly the atmosphere
underwent a peculiar change - almost as though the two of us
had been suddenly thrust on to some other plane of being altogether.
I am afraid it is not easy to describe clearly what I mean here.
All I can say is that everything around us suddenly became very
still; it was my impression that Miss Kenton's manner also underwent
a sudden change; there was a strange seriousness in her expression,
and it struck me she seemed almost frightened.
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton enters the butler's pantry
uninvited and insists on seeing a book Stevens is reading. Day
Three, Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
A butler of any quality must be seen to inhabit his role,
utterly and fully; he cannot be seen casting it aside one moment
simply to don it again the next as though it were nothing more
than a pantomime costume.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens reflects on his 'off duty' encounter
with Miss Kenton in the pantry. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
"Miss Kenton', I assured him, "is a devoted professional.
I happen to know for a fact that she has no wish for a family."
The Remains of the Day
Stevens to butler colleague Mr Graham,
who suggests Miss Kenton has missed out on the best of her mothering
years, but it's not too late yet for her. Day Three, Evening
- Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
...the possibility that the purpose of these mysterious outings
of Miss Kenton was to meet a suitor...was indeed a disturbing
notion, for it was not hard to see that Miss Kenton's departure
would constitute a professional loss of some magnitude, a loss
Darlington Hall would have some difficulty recovering from.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens wonders if Miss Kenton's disappearances
from the house during her time off means she is seeing somebody.
Day Three, Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
The day his lordship's work is complete, the day he is able
to rest on his laurels, content in the knowledge that he has
done all anyone could ever reasonably ask of him, only on that
day, Miss Kenton, will I be able to call myself, as you put
it, a well-contented man.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens to Miss Kenton, after she suggests
he must be a well-contented man. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
Indeed, it might even be said that this small decision of
mind constituted something of a turning point; that the decision
set things on an inevitable course towards what eventually happened.
But then, I suppose, when with the benefit of hindsight one
begins to search one's past for such 'turning points', one is
apt to start seeing them everywhere.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens on his decision to re-establish
his relationship with Miss Kenton as merely professional after
the incident with her in the pantry. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
In any case, while it is all very well to talk of ‘turning
points’, one can surely only recognize such moments in
retrospect. Naturally, when one looks back to such instances
today, they may indeed take the appearance of being crucial,
precious moments in one’s life; but of course, at the time,
this was not the impression one had. Rather, it was as though
one had available a never-ending number of days, months, years
in which to sort out the vagaries of one’s relationship
with Miss Kenton; an infinite number of further opportunities
in which to remedy the effect of this or that misunderstanding.
There was surely nothing to indicate at the time that such evidently
small incidents would render whole dreams forever irredeemable.
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kendon on the death of her aunt, her
only living relative. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock,
Devon. |
The trouble with his sort is they mistake acting high and
mighty for dignity.
The Remains of the Day
Mrs Taylor, one of the commoners. Day Three,
Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
And you think that it was my good fortune to have had their
ear on many great issues of the day, yes, when I think back,
I do feel a certain gratitude. It's a great privilege, after
all, to have been given a part to play, however small, on the
world's stage.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens, who the commoners take for being
modest. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock, Devon. |
There is, after all, a real limit to how much ordinary people
can learn and know, and to demand that each and every one of
them contribute 'strong opinions' to the great debates of the
nation cannot, surely, be wise. It is, in any case, absurd that
anyone should presume to define a person's 'dignity' in these
terms.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
Germany and Italy have set their houses in order by acting.
And so have the wretched Bolsheviks in their own way, one supposes.
Even President Roosevelt... But look at us here, Stevens. Year
after year goes by, and nothing gets better. All we do is argue
and debate and procrastinate. Any decent idea is amended to
ineffectuality by the time it's gone half-way through the various
committees it's obliged to pass through. The few people qualified
to know what's what are talked to a standstill by ignorant people
all around them. What do you make of it, Stevens?
The Remains of the Day
Lord Darlington. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
Let us establish this quite clearly: a butler's duty is to
provide good service. It is not to meddle in the great affairs
of the nation. The fact is, such great affairs will always be
beyond the understanding of those such as you and I, and those
of us who wish to make our mark must realize that we best do
so by devoting our attention to providing the best possible
service to those great gentlemen in whose hands the destiny
of civilization truly lies.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
How can one possibly be held to blame in any sense because,
say, the passage of time has shown that Lord Darlington's efforts
were misguided, even foolish? Throughout the years I served
him, it was he and he alone who weighed up evidence and judged
it best to proceed in the way he did, while I simply confined
myself, quite properly, to affairs within my own professional
realm. And as far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties
to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many
may consider 'first-rate.' It is hardly my fault is his lordship's
life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad
waste-and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret
or shame on my own account.
The Remains of the Day
Stevens believes his professional behavior
shields him from any moral responsibility for the actions of
his employer Lord Darlington who was a Nazi sympathiser and
dies in disgrace. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe, near Tavistock,
Devon. |
However, if a butler is to be of any worth to anything or
anybody in life, there must surely come a time when he ceases
his searching; a time when he must say to himself: "This
employer embodies all that I find noble and admirable. I will
hereafter devote myself to him."
The Remains of the Day
Stevens. Day Three, Evening - Moscombe,
near Tavistock, Devon. |
People do have a political conscience of sorts here. They
feel they ought to have strong feelings on this and that, just
as Harry urges them to. But really, they’re no different
from people anywhere. They want a quiet life. Harry has a lot
of ideas about changes to this and that, but really, no one
in the village wants upheaval, even if it might benefit them.
People here want to be left alone to lead their quiet little
lives. They don’t want to be bothered with this issue and
that issue.
The Remains of the Day
Dr Carlisle. Day Four, Afternoon - Compton,
Cornwall. |
But that doesn't mean to say, of course, there aren't occasions
now and then - extremely desolate occasions - when you think
to yourself: "What a terrible mistake I've made with my
life." And you get to thinking about a different life,
a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking
about a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens. And I suppose
that's when I get angry about some trivial little thing and
leave. But each time I do, I realize before long - my rightful
place is with my husband. After all, there's no turning back
the clock now. One can't be forever dwelling on what might have
been.
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton. Day Six, Evening - Weymouth. |
Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad
man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able
to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes.
His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in
life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it,
he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim
that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship’s wisdom.
All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something
worthwhile. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really
- one has to ask oneself - what dignity is there in that?
The Remains of the Day
Stevens confesses to complete stranger,
realizing the sad truth about his life spent in the pursuit
of dignity. Day Six, Evening - Weymouth. |
The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's
work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.
The Remains of the Day
Stranger's advice to Stevens. Day Six,
Evening - Weymouth. |
|
| The Remains of the Day is a 1989
novel by Japanese-British author Kazuo Ishiguro. It won the Booker
Prize for Best Fiction that year. Ishiguro was born in Japan on November
8, 1954. |
|
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