Favorite Downton Abbey Quotes
Cora: No, the third Earl built it. Well, he didn't really build it so much as envelope it, because this room is originally medieval. It was the monks' refectory of an abbey that King Henry sold after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Visitor: Is that why it's called Downton Abbey?
Cora: ... I guess so.
Isobel: I suspect she's quite a tough nut.
Violet: And I'm quite a tough nutcracker.
Violet: Do you enjoy weddings?
Isobel: Yes. But I'm not going to that one. I'd feel like the wicked fairy at the christening of Sleeping Beauty.
Robert: What's he got that fascinates Mary when poor old Tony's rolling acres and glistening coronet didn't? You'll say sex appeal, but isn't Mary too sensible?
Cora: We have a very contrary daughter.
Anna: They do say that opposites attract.
Mary: Yes, they attract. But do they live happily ever after?
Henry: I want to surround you with people murmuring, "Isn't he divine?" or "You'd be mad to let him go."
Mary: Suppose they say, "I shouldn't have thought a racing driver was your sort of thing at all"?
Henry: They don't have to, you've already said it.
Mrs. Hughes: They don't live badly, you have to concede.
Mr. Carson: They live as they're supposed to live. It has its burdens and its benefits.
Mrs. Hughes: Better than a life of just burden.
You're a coward, Mary. Like all bullies, you're a coward.
Tom
Edith: The one thing Mary can't bear is when things are going better for me than for her.
Bertie: I'm sure that's not true.
Edith: You don't know her. I'm getting married and you've lost your man. And you just can't stand it.
Tom: Edith, there is no need for --
Mary: You're wrong. I'm very happy for you. And I admire you, Bertie. Not everyone would accept Edith's past.
Tom: Mary, don't.
Edith: Who do you think you're talking to? Mama? Your maid? I know you! I know you to be a nasty, jealous, scheming bitch!
Mary: Now listen, you pathetic --
Edith: You're a bitch! Not content with ruining your own life, you're determined to ruin mine!
Mary: I have not ruined my life and if Bertie's put off by that, then --
Edith: Don't demean yourself by trying to justify your venom. Just go. And you're wrong 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!
No, you see, you must never think that education is only for special people, you know, for clever people, for toffs. Education is for everyone.
Molesley
Mary: Do you still think dismissing Barrow was a useful saving, Papa?
Robert: That's rather below the belt, even for you.
