Downton Abbey (TV Series)
Episode #3.1 (2012)
Maggie Smith: Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham
Photos
Quotes
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : [to Cora] I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her I'm reminded of the virtues of the English.
Matthew Crawley : But isn't she American?
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Exactly.
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[Violet has just had a very catty conversation with Martha Levinson, Cora's mother]
Lady Edith Crawley : There you are. I see you've said hello to Grandmama.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : She is like a homing pigeon. She finds our underbelly every time... Dreadful woman!
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Tom Branson : I'm glad to find you here because I want to apologize for last night.
Isobel Crawley : Oh there's no need, we know it was not your fault.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : You weren't the first drunk in that dining room, I can assure you.
Tom Branson : Only the first Republican
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Well, you've got me there.
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Matthew Crawley : What's going on?
Tom Branson : They're forcing me into a morning coat.
Matthew Crawley : He has no say in it ?
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : No, he doesn't, and nor do you.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : You Americans never understand the importance of tradition.
Martha Levinson : Yes we do. We just don't give it power over us... history and tradition took Europe into a world war. Maybe you should think about letting go of its hand.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Are you really that tall?
Alfred Nugent : Yes, m'lady.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : I thought you might have been walking on stilts.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : [discussing the iminent wedding] The family must never be a topic of conversation.
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham : I'm afraid Sybil's already made the Crawleys a permanent topic.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : [ref. Tom Branson] All the more reason if we can show the county he can behave normally, they will soon lose interest with him, and I shall make sure he behaves normally because I shall hold his hand on the radiator until he does.
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Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham : Hello Mama, can I tempt you to one of these new cocktails?
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : I don't think so - they look too exciting for so early in the evening...
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Isobel Crawley : We've asked Moseley to look out Matthew's old morning coat, He's confident he can make it fit.
Tom Branson : That's very kind, ladies, but, you see, I don't approve of these costumes. I see them as the uniform of oppression, and I should be uncomfortable wearing them.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Are you quite finished?
Tom Branson : I have.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Good. Please take off your coat.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : [to Robert upon the arrival of weekend visitors] No guest should be admitted without the date of their departure settled.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Nothing succeeds like excess.
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Martha Levinson : Oh dear - I'm afraid the war has made old women of us both.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Oh, I wouldn't say that, but then I always keep out of the sun.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : The groom *never* sees the bride the night before the wedding.
Martha Levinson : Nothing ever alters for you people, does it? Revolutions erupt and monarchies crash to the ground, and the groom still cannot see the bride before the wedding.
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Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : [to Carson; walking down a hall] I was so afraid I was going to be late.
[comes around a corner where Martha Levinson, just arrived stands]
Martha Levinson : Violet.
[gives Violet an awkward hug]
Martha Levinson : Oh dear. I'm afraid the war has made old women of us both.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : I wouldn't say that, but then I always keep out of the sun. How'd you find Downton on your return?
Martha Levinson : Much the same, really. Probably too much the same but then I don't want to cast a ball over all the happiness.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : How could you ever do that?
Martha Levinson : Tell me, what do you think of young Lochinvar who has so ably carried off our granddaughter and our money? Do you approve of him?
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Not as much as you will when you get to know him.
Martha Levinson : Hmm. Has he gone home to change?
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : Oh no, he won't be going again tonight. The groom never sees the bride the night before the wedding.
Martha Levinson : Nothing ever alters for you people, does it? Revolutions erupt and monarchies crash to the ground and the groom still cannot see the bride before the wedding.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham : You Americans never understand the importance of tradition!
Martha Levinson : Yes we do. We just don't give it power over us. History and tradition took Europe into a world war. Maybe you should think about letting go of its hand.