Downton Quotables

Well, I finished my third round of Downton Abbey yesterday, so I thought a quotables post would be good (of course, heavily featuring Granny/Violet).

Favorite character:  Tom Branson

Favorite friendship: Violet and Isobel! =)

The Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith, aka Granny, aka Violet Crawley: You're a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining, and find something to do!

Cora: Are we to be friends, then?
Violet: We are allies, my dear, which can be a good deal more effective.

Daisy: Seems like a lot of food, when you think they're all in mourning.
Mrs. Patmore: Nothing makes you hungrier or more tired than grief! 

Lord Grantham: I thought you didn't like him.
Violet: So what? I have plenty of friends I don't like.

Lord Grantham: You do not love the place yet... You see a million bricks that may crumble, a thousand gutters and pipes that may block and leak, and stone that will crack in the frost.
Matthew Crawley: But you don't?
Lord Grantham: I see my life's work...

Matthew:  Don't worry, there are plenty of hours in the day. And, of course, I'll have the weekend.
Violet: Wh-What is a weekend?

Bates: You can change your life if you want to. Sometimes you have to be hard on yourself, but you can change it completely. I know.

Violet: Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class.

Mary:  Are we to do all of this without telling Papa?
Violet:  There can be too much truth in any relationship.

Violet:  I can't believe it. Last night he looked so well! Of course, it would happen to a foreigner. It's typical... No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house, especially someone they didn't even know.

Daisy: I was only trying to help.
Mrs. Patmore: Oh, and Judas was only trying to help, I suppose, when he brought the Roman soldiers to the Garden!

Violet:  You are quite wonderful, the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. 
Isobel: I take that as a compliment.
Violet: I must have said it wrong.

Carson: I know you have spirit, my lady, and that's what counts. It's all that counts in the end.

Sybil: I'm sorry I disobeyed you, but I'm interested. I'm political. I have opinions!!
Lord Grantham:  Of course, I blame Branson...
Sybil:  If you punish Branson, I'll never speak to you again. NEVER!

Violet (about Lavinia):  So that's Mary's replacement? Well, I suppose looks aren't everything.

Cora:  Oh, it must be intimidating meeting all of us here together.
Violet:  I do hope so.

Violet:  "Marriage is a long business. There's no getting out of it for our kind of people... Just make sure you have selected the right one."

Richard:  Do you enjoy these games in which the player must appear ridiculous?
Violet: Sir Richard, life is a game in which the player must appear ridiculous!"

Violet: A woman of my age can face reality better than most men.

Mary: He puts himself above the rest of us. Don't you see?
Anna: What I see is a good man, my lady. And they're not like buses. There won't be another one along in ten minutes' time.

Mary: It's not because you're afraid of calling it off? Because I'm not.
Matthew: No. It's because of something Tom said: That I would never be happy with anyone else as long as you walked the earth, which is true.

Dr. Clarkson: So you want me to lie?
Violet: Lie is so unmusical a word.

Thomas (parting advice):  Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
Mrs. Patmore:  Well, that gives you a bit of leeway!

Violet:  I was right about my maid. She's leaving to get married. I mean, how can she be so selfish!?

Violet (advice to Edith):  All of life is a series of problems which we must try and solve... first one and then the next and then the next... until at last we die.

Branson to Mary:  Real love means giving someone the power to hurt you.

Violet: Principles are like prayers; noble, of course, but awkward at a party.

Violet: Hope is a tease designed to prevent us accepting reality.
Isobel:  You're only saying that to sound clever.
Violet:  Yes.... You should try it sometime.

Violet (about Mrs. Levinson): Just how long is she here for?
Robert: Who knows?
Violet: No guest should be admitted with no departure date settled.

Branson:  It comes down to whether or not you love me -- that's all! That's it. The rest is detail!

Mrs. Levinson:  You see, I have no desire to be a great lady.
Violet:  A decision which must be reinforced every time you look in the glass.

Edith, on her wedding day: Isn't it exciting?
Violet: At my age, one must ration one's excitement. 

Violet:  There's nothing simpler than avoiding people you don't like. Avoiding one's friends, that's the real test.

Robert: We won't need more than eight servants, tops. So it'll be very economical.
Violet: What about me? Where am I to go?
Robert: Well, we still own most of the village.
Violet, with all the sarcasm: Oh. Perhaps I could open a shop?

Violet:  Sybil, vulgarity is no substitute for wit!
Sybil:  You started it!

Isobel: How you hate to be wrong.
Violet: I wouldn’t know; I’m not familiar with the sensation.

Mr.Green: What can I do for you, Mrs. Hughes?
Mrs.Hughes: Nothing! You can do nothing for me. Because I know who you are, and I know what you've done. And while you're here, if you value your life, I should stop playing the joker and keep to the shadows!

Violet (to Isobel):  Does it ever get cold on the moral high ground?

Cora: Mrs. Patmore, is there any aspect of the present day that you can accept without resistance?

Mrs. Patmore: Well, My Lady, I wouldn’t mind getting rid of my corset.

Isobel: You make me sound very fervent.
Violet: Wars have been waged with less fervor.
Isobel: Say what you like, but I know you care about these things as much as I do.
Violet (laughing): Nobody cares about anything as much as you do.

Edith: Don't demean yourself by trying to justify your venom. Just go! And you're wrong, you know, as you so often are. Henry's perfect for you. You're just too stupid and stuck up to see it. Still, at least he's got away from you, which is something to give thanks for, I suppose.

Violet:  A lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears.

Mrs. Patmore: Do you know what your problem is!?
Daisy: I bet I soon will!

Violet: Sometimes it's good to rule by fear.

Denker: Oh, Mr. Spratt, I know you resent me.
Spratt: Why would I resent you?
Denker: Because I'm interesting, because I'm exotic, because I'm attractive!
Spratt: Oh, dear me, this is worse than I thought. Do you always have trouble distinguishing fact from fiction?

Violet (pre-wedding advice): One way or another, every woman goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.

Violet:  I do think a woman's place is eventually in the home, but I see no harm in her having some fun before she gets there.

Violet:  I am a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose.

Violet: Never let tenderness be a bar to a bit of snooping.
Isobel: What can I do? I can hardly push my way past the servants and run upstairs to his bedroom.
Violet: I don't see why not. As my late father used to say, "If reason fails, try force!"

Amelia: Mrs. Crawley wants to take you away from your son and your family and kidnap you into marriage. What do you say?
Lord Merton:  How perfectly marvelous!

Violet:  There is a point, Spratt, when malice ceases to be amusing.

Violet: If I withdrew my friendship from everyone who had spoken ill of me, my address book would be empty.

Violet (to Isobel): It's a wonder your halo doesn't get heavy. It must be like wearing a tiara round the clock.

Okay, finally, this is decidedly the strangest thing I've seen on the internet. lol  A short Downton Abbey meets Star Wars film made by Thomas. Delightfully ridic and random.