The Remains of the Day

"Dignity is perhaps all a man of my position can hope to maintain."

"One must live with the consequences of one's understanding, however flawed."

"The past is a foreign country; we cannot revisit it."

"What does one's professional achievement amount to in the end?"

"One attempts to be a good servant, and perhaps that must suffice."

"The evening of one's life is perhaps not the time for recriminations."

"A professional must always maintain a certain emotional distance."

"The decisions I did not make may have been more significant than those I did."

"One cannot rewrite one's history, only accept it."

"I have spent my life maintaining standards of which I am no longer sure."

"The best one can hope for is to have served with dignity."

"One has to wonder, at times like these, what one has been living for."

"A butler's reputation rests upon the smallest details of conduct."

"The pursuit of perfection in one's work may well be the pursuit of emptiness."

"One cannot fault a man for doing his duty as he understood it."

"The years have not brought me clarity, only resignation."

"A man of quality does not allow his personal inclinations to govern his actions."

"What is done is done, and cannot be altered by regret."

"One's duty is not to question, but to perform one's function."

"The world is a complicated place, and we are its servants."

"One must go on as best one can with what one has done."

"The choice was never mine to make, perhaps, but the consequences are."

"A professional must not waver in conviction, however difficult the circumstances."

"One looks at the world and wonders what one has accomplished."

"The dignity of the profession has been my life's pursuit."

"One attempts to be a good butler, but perhaps that is all one can do."

"A butler is expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct."

"Professional integrity demands one does not permit one's personal feelings to interfere."

"The moment when I might have achieved something different has long passed."

"One cannot undo the past, however much one might wish to."