J

Julie Andrews Quotes

Actor

Memorable Quotes from Julie Andrews

42 quotes
Love and Principles in Conflict
Emily Barham You lack principles, Charlie. Isn't there anything you would die for?
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Sure. I'd die for you, if it ever came to that.
Emily Barham I really believe you would.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison There's lots of things I'd die for, Emily; my home, my family, my country. But that's love, not principle.
Inquiry About Children's Playclothes
Captain Is it possible, or could I have just imagined? Have my children by any chance been climbing trees today?
Maria Yes, Captain.
Captain I see. And where, may I ask, did they get these, uhm, these...
Maria Playclothes.
Captain Oh, is that what you call them?
Maria I made them, from the drapes that used to hang in my bedroom...They still had plenty of wear left. The children have been everywhere in them.
Captain Do you mean to tell me that my children have been roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes?!
Maria Umm, hmm, and having a marvelous time.
Captain They have uniforms.
Maria Straitjackets, if you'll forgive me.
Captain I will not forgive you for that.
Maria Children can't do all the things they're supposed to if they have to worry about spoiling their precious clothes.
Captain They haven't complained yet.
Maria Well, they wouldn't dare! They love you too much. They fear you too much!
Captain I don't wish you to discuss my children in this manner.
Maria Well, you've got to hear from someone! You're never home long enough to know them.
Captain I said I don't want to hear anymore from you about my children!
Maria I know you don't, but you've got to! Now, take Liesl.
Captain You will not say one word about Liesl, Fraulein.
[hesitatingly]
Maria She's not a child anymore, and one of these days, you're going to wake up and find that she's a woman. You won't even know her. And Friedrich, he's a boy, but he wants to be a man and there's no one to show him how.
Captain Don't you DARE tell ME about my son!
Maria Brigitta could tell you about him if you let her get close to you. She notices everything.
Captain Fraulein...
Maria And Kurt pretends he's tough not to show how hurt he is when you brush him aside...
Captain That will do!
Maria ...the way you do all of them. Louisa I don't even know about yet...
Captain I said that will do!
Maria But somebody has to find out about her, and the little ones just want to be loved. Oh, please, Captain, love them! Love them all!
Captain I don't care to hear anything further from you about my children.
Maria I'm not finished with you!
Captain Oh, yes, you are, Captain! Fraulein! You will pack your things and return to the abbey.
[pauses, then corrects himself]
Captain I behaved badly. I apologize...You were right. I don't know my children...You've brought music back into the house. I'd forgotten. Fraulein, I want you to stay. I ask you to stay more than you know.
Queen Clarisse's Reflection on Relationships
Queen Clarisse Renaldi Well Maurice, it's just you and I. Or are you upset with me too?
[Maurice leaves]
A Farewell Without Explanation
Captain You left without saying goodbye, even to the children.
Maria It was wrong of me, forgive me.
Captain Why did you?
Maria Please don't ask me. Anyway, the reason no longer exists.
Elsa Fraulein Maria, you've returned. Isn't it wonderful, Georg?
[entering]
Maria May I wish you every happiness, Baroness? And you too, Captain. The children tell me you're to be married.
Elsa Thank you, my dear.
Captain You are back to, uh, stay?
Maria Only until arrangements can be made for another governess.
Cultural Differences in Affection and Gifts
Emily Barham You brought me some chocolates.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Two boxes of Hershey's.
Emily Barham Well, that's very American of you, Charlie. You just had to bring along some small token of opulence. Well, I don't want them. You Yanks can't even show affection without buying something.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Well don't get into a state over it. I thought you liked chocolates.
Emily Barham I do, but my country's at war and we're doing without chocolates for a while. And I don't want oranges or eggs or soap flakes, either. Don't show me how profitable it will be to fall in love with you, Charlie. Don't Americanize me.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison You American-haters bore me to tears, Miss Barham. I've dealt with Europeans all my life. I know all about us parvenus from the States who come over here and race around your old cathedral towns with our cameras and Coca-Cola bottles... Brawl in your pubs, paw your women, and act like we own the world. We over-tip. We talk too loud. We think we can buy anything with a Hershey bar. I've had Germans and Italians tell me how politically ingenuous we are. And perhaps so. But we haven't managed a Hitler or Mussolini yet. I've had Frenchmen call me a savage because I only took half an hour for lunch. Hell, Miss Barham, the only reason the French take two hours for lunch is because the service in their restaurants is lousy. The most tedious lot are you British. We crass Americans didn't introduce war into your little island. This war, Miss Barham, to which we Americans are so insensitive, is the result of 2,000 years of European greed, barbarism, superstition, and stupidity. Don't blame it on our Coca-Cola bottles. Europe was a going brothel long before we came to town.
Emily Barham Dear me, what an outburst!
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison So lay off, Mrs. Miniver. If you don't like our Hershey bars, don't take em. Pick yourself a frock or get out. It's not my job to listen to your sentimental contempt.
A Special Bond Between Liesl and Maria
Liesl Mother?
[after Ralf rejects her]
Maria That sounds so nice.
Liesl I like calling you "Mother.
Maria I like hearing it.
Liesl You love Father very much. I can tell you do.
Maria Very much.
Liesl Mother, what do you do when you think you love someone? I mean, when you stop loving someone or he stops loving you?
Maria Well, you cry a little. Then you wait for the sun to come out. It always does.
Liesl There are so many things I think I should know but I don't. I really don't.
Maria How can you?
Liesl Sometimes I feel the world is ending.
Maria Then you feel it's just beginning?
Liesl Yes!
Maria It was that way with me. And for you it will be just as wonderful.
Unexpected Timing and Preparedness
Queen Clarisse Renaldi I know it was short notice, but... you were all dressed.
[to wedding guests]
A Queen's Perspective on Timeliness
Queen Clarisse Renaldi A queen is never late, everyone else is simply early.
A Princess and the Pursuit of Dignity
Queen Clarisse Renaldi A princess never chases a chicken.
Natural Order and Expectations in Relationships
Sarah Sherman You're a scientist, and you're supposed to respect a natural order in all things. Breakfast comes before lunch...And marriage should come before a honeymoon cruise.
[in bed together]
Professor Michael Armstrong You're on the wrong boat.
Commitment and Fear in Relationships
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison You're forever falling for men on their last nights on furlough. That's about the limit of your commitments, one night, a day, a month. You prefer lovers to husbands, hotels to homes. You'd rather grieve than live.
Emily Barham You're not only cowardly and selfish; you're remarkably cruel as well.
Bedtime Rules and Stormy Exceptions
Captain Fraulein Maria, did I or did I not say that bedtime is to be strictly observed in this household?
Maria Yes, well the children were scared of the thunderstorm and... You did, sir.
Captain And do you or do you not have trouble following these simple instructions?
Maria Only during thunderstorms, sir.
A Secret Gift Among Friends
Maria I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the precious gift you left in my pocket today.
Captain Um, what gift?
Maria It's meant to be a secret, Captain, between the children and me.
Captain Uh-huh. Then I suggest that you keep it, and let us eat.
Maria Knowing how nervous I must have been, a stranger in a new household, knowing how important it was for me to feel accepted. It was so kind and thoughtful of you to make my first moments here so warm and happy and... pleasant.
Captain What is the matter, Marta?
Marta Nothing.
Captain Uh, Fräulein... is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you, uh, intend leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of... indigestion?
Maria Oh, they're all right, Captain. They're just happy.
Royal Duties and Personal Perspectives
Queen Clarisse Renaldi As your queen I simply cannot condone it... as a Grandma, I say right on!
The Importance of Patience in Leadership
Queen Clarisse Renaldi We never rush, we hasten.
A Request for Time and Reflection
Professor Michael Armstrong Just give me five minutes with her. After all, she is my girl.
Sarah Sherman Put that in the past tense.
A Conversation About Attention and Awareness
Elsa Now, where is that lovely little thing you were wearing the other evening, when the Captain couldn't keep his eyes off you.
Maria Couldn't keep his eyes off me?
Elsa Come, my dear, we are women. Let's not pretend we don't know when a man notices us...
Maria The Captain notices everybody and everything.
Elsa Well, there's no need to feel so defensive, Maria. You are quite attractive, you know. The Captain would hardly be a man if he didn't notice you.
Maria Baroness, I hope you're joking.
Elsa Not at all.
Maria But I've never done a thing to...
Elsa But you don't have to, Maria. There's nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him.
Maria In love with him'?
Elsa Of course. What makes it so nice is he thinks he's in love with you.
Maria But that's not true.
Elsa Oh surely you've noticed the way he looks into your eyes. And you know, uh, you blushed in his arms when you were dancing just now. Don't take it to heart. He'll get over it soon enough, I should think. Men do, you know.
Maria Then I should go. I mustn't stay here.
A Playful Exchange Between Two Characters
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Easy, tiger, that's a tailored shirt.
Emily Barham Oh, shut up and let me kiss you.
Finding Fun in Every Task
Mary Poppins In every ] that ] be done, there is an element of ]. You find the fun and snap! The job's a ].
[[job; [must; [fun; snaps her fingers; [game]
Establishing Discipline in the Household
Captain You are the twelfth in a long line of governesses who have come here to look after my children since their mother died. I trust you will be an improvement on the last one. She stayed only two hours.
Maria What's wrong with the children, Captain?
Captain Oh, there's nothing wrong with the children. Only the governesses. They were completely unable to maintain discipline. Without it, this house cannot be properly run. Will you please remember that, Fraulein? Every morning, you will drill the children in their studies. I will not permit them to dream away their summer holidays. Each afternoon, they will march about the grounds breathing deeply. Bedtime is to be strictly observed - no exceptions...You will see to it that they conduct themselves at all time with the utmost orderliness and decorum. I am placing you in command.
Captain Now, when I want you, this is what you will hear.
[blows whistle]
Maria Oh, no, sir, I'm sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children, and definitely not for me. It would be too... humiliating.
Captain Fräulein, were you this much trouble at the Abbey?
Maria Oh, much more, sir!
Captain Hmm.
[starts to leave the room when Maria blows the whistle. He looks back at her.]
Maria Excuse me, sir, I don't know your signal.
Captain You may call me "Captain.
Support and Doubt in Uncertain Times
Elsa My dear, is there anything you can't do?
Maria Well, I'm not sure I'll make a very good nun.
Elsa Oh, if you have any problems, I'd be happy to help you.
A Unique Measurement Perspective from Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins * Reading her magical tape measure, after the children ask her to measure herself.
Critique of Unscientific Thinking
Sarah Sherman Against all the evidence, Michael, I'd say you had a very unscientific mind.
Wedding Plans and Campus Relationships
Sarah Sherman What's your position on a July wedding?
Professor Michael Armstrong Oh, July, August, September or October.
Sarah Sherman Don't let me hurry you. I just don't want to be the only common-law wife on the campus.
A Conversation about Brooding Behavior
Sarah Sherman Oh, will you stop brooding?
Professor Michael Armstrong I like to brood.
Queen's Proposal for Marriage
Queen Clarisse Renaldi My lord Archbishop, I would like to take this man as my husband, if you please.
Mary Poppins Defines Practicality in Every Way
Mary Poppins As I expected. "Mary Poppins, practically ] in every way.
[[perfect]
Debate on British Values and Historical Impact
Emily Barham I believe in honor, service, courage, and fair play, and cricket, and all the other symbols of British character. Which have only civilized half the world!
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison You British plundered half the world for your own profit, let's not pass it off as the age of enlightenment.
Sacrifice and Celebration in War Context
Mrs. Barham Emily, I must warn you. Charlie's picture is in all the papers and they're going to put up a monument on his grave.
Emily Barham What on earth for? All he did was die. Dear me, we shall be celebrating cancer and automobile smash-ups next.
Lt. Cmdr. Bus Cummings He didn't just die, Emily. He sacrificed his life.
[fervently]
Mrs. Barham That was very pagan of him.
Lt. Cmdr. Bus Cummings He was the first American to die on Omaha Beach.
Emily Barham Was there a contest?
Criticism of Tooth Fairy Performance
Lily You might just be the worst tooth fairy ever!
The Balance of Freedom and Honesty
Maria I just couldn't help myself. The gates were open and the hills were beckoning and everything was so green and fresh, and the Untersberg kept leading me higher and higher, as if it wanted me to go right through the clouds with it.
Reverend Mother Child, suppose darkness had come and you were lost?
Maria Oh, mother, I could never get lost up there, that’s my mountain, I was brought up on it,...It was the mountain that led me to you. Sometimes, I would come down the mountain, and climb a tree, and look over your wall into your garden and hear the Sisters singing on their way to Vespers; which brings me to another transgression, Reverend Mother, I was singing out there today, without permission...I can't seem to stop singing wherever I am. And what's worse, I can't seem to stop saying things - anything and everything I think and feel.
Reverend Mother Some people would call that honesty.
Maria Oh, but it's terrible, Reverend Mother. You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we've had a disagreement? Well, lately I've taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time.
Finding Love and Faith in Conflict
Maria I left... I was frightened... I was confused. I felt, I've never felt that way before, I couldn't stay. I knew that here I'd be away from it. I'd be safe... I can't face him again... Oh, there were times when we would look at each other. Oh, Mother, I could hardly breathe... That's what's been torturing me. I was there on God's errand. To have asked for his love would have been wrong. I couldn't stay, I just couldn't. I'm ready at this moment to take my vows. Please help me.
Reverend Mother Maria, the love of a man and a woman is holy too. You have a great capacity to love. What you must find out is how God wants you to spend your love.
Maria But I pledged my life to God. I pledged my life to his service.
Reverend Mother My daughter, if you love this man, it doesn't mean you love God less. No, you must find out and you must go back.
Maria Oh, Mother, you can't ask me to do that. Please let me stay, I beg of you.
Reverend Mother Maria, these walls were not built to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.
A Question of Curiosity
Queen Clarisse Renaldi Do I want to know?
[Mia shows up in soaking wet clothes]
Finding Love and New Beginnings
Captain There isn't going to be any Baroness...well, we've, uhm, called off our engagement, you see...Well, you can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else, can you?
[he kisses her]
Maria The Reverend Mother always says, when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window'.
Captain What else does the Reverend Mother say?
Maria That you have to look for your life.
Captain Is that why you came back? And have you found it Maria?
[She nods]
Maria I think I have. I know I have.
Captain I love you.
Maria Oh, can this be happening to me?
Captain Do you know when I first started loving you? That night at the dinner table when you sat at that ridiculous pine cone.
[he brings Maria to the center of the gazebo; laughs]
Maria What? I knew the first time you blew that whistle.
[laughs too]
Captain Oh, my love...
[as he caresses her cheek with his right hand]
Attraction Beyond Heroism in War
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison I'm not your type, you know.
Emily Barham Like hell, you're not!
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison I only thought you fancied heroes. I'm yellow, honey, clear through.
Emily Barham That's your most attractive quality. Oh, I've had it with heroes! Every man I've loved has died in this war. You'll never get caught in the shooting - that's one thing I'm sure of. You can't imagine how attractive that makes you to me.
The Illusion of Valor in War
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Emily, I want the world to know what a fraud war is.
Emily Barham But war isn't a fraud, Charlie, it's very real. At least that's what you always tried to tell me, isn't it? That we shall never get rid of war by pretending it's unreal? It's the virtue of war that's the fraud, not war itself. It's the valor and the self-sacrifice and the goodness of war that needs the exposing. And here you are being brave and self-sacrificing, positively clanking with moral fervor, perpetuating the very things you detest merely to do "the right thing". Honestly, Charlie, your conversion to morality is really quite funny. All this time I've been terrified of becoming Americanized, and you, you silly ass, have turned into a bloody Englishman.
The Paradox of Cowardice and War
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison I discovered I was a coward. That's my new religion. I'm a big believer in it. Cowardice will save the world. War isn't hell at all. It's man at his best; the highest morality he's capable of. It's not war that's insane, you see. It's the morality of it. It's not greed or ambition that makes war: it's goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons: for liberation or manifest destiny. Always against tyranny and always in the interest of humanity. So far this war, we've managed to butcher some ten million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war it seems we'll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity. It's not war that's unnatural to us, it's virtue. As long as valor remains a virtue, we shall have soldiers. So, I preach cowardice. Through cowardice, we shall all be saved.
Mrs. Barham And after this, I'm sure all the generals will dash off and write books about the blunders made by other generals and statesmen will publish their secret diaries and it'll show beyond any shadow of doubt that war could easily have been avoided in the first place. And the rest of us, of course, will be left with the job of bandaging the wounded and burying the dead.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison I don't trust people who make bitter reflections about war, Mrs. Barham. It's always the general with the bloodiest records who are the first to shout what a hell it is. It's always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parades.
Emily Barham That was unkind, Charlie, and very rude.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison We shall never end wars, Mrs. Barham, by blaming it on the ministers and generals, or warmongering imperialists, or all the other banal bogeys. It's the rest of us who build statues to those generals and name boulevards after those ministers. The rest of us who make heroes of our dead and shrines of our battlefields. We wear our widow's weeds like nuns, Mrs. Barham, and perpetuate war by exalting its sacrifices. My brother died at Anzio.
Emily Barham I didn't know that Charlie.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Yes. An everyday soldier's death, no special heroism involved. They buried what pieces they found of him. But my mother insists he died a brave death and pretends to be very proud.
Mrs. Barham You're very hard on your mother. Seems a harmless enough pretense to me.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison No, Mrs. Barham. No, you see my other brother can't wait to reach enlistment age. That'll be in September.
Mrs. Barham Oh lord.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison Maybe ministers and generals who blunder us into wars, Mrs. Barham, the least the rest of us can do is to resist honoring the institution. What has my mother got for pretending bravery was admirable? She's under constant sedation and terrified she may wake up one morning and find her last son has run off to be brave.
Mary Poppins' Stance on Being Sacked
Mary Poppins Sacked?! Certainly not, I am never sacked.
Tutu Comments Amidst Playful Banter
Derek Thompson Does this tutu make my butt look big?
Lily Huge.
A Prayer for Guidance and Understanding
Maria Dear Father, now I know why You sent me here. To help these children prepare for a new mother. And I pray this will become a happy family in Thy sight. God bless the captain. God bless Liesl and Friedrich. God bless Louisa, Brigitta, Marta and little Gretl. And I forgot the other boy. What's his name? Well, God bless what's-his-name. God bless the Reverend Mother and Sister Margaretta and everybody at the abbey. And now, dear God, about Liesl. Help her know that I'm her friend and help her tell me what she's been up to...
Liesl You are not going to tell father are you?
Maria Shh, help me to be understanding so that I may guide her footsteps. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.
Liesl I was out walking and somebody locked the doors early. I didn't want to wake everybody, so when I saw your window open. You're not going to tell Father, are you?
Maria How in the world did you climb up here?
Liesl It's how we always got in to play tricks on the governess. Louisa can make it with a whole jar of spiders in her hand.
Maria Spiders? Liesl, were you out walking all by yourself? If we wash that dress tonight, nobody would notice it tomorrow. You could put this on. Take your dress and put it to soak in the bathtub. Come back here and sit on the bed, and we'll have a talk.
Liesl I told you today I didn't need a governess. Well, maybe I do.
Mary Poppins' Advice on Etiquette
Mary Poppins Close your mouth please, Michael, we are not a codfish.
A Proposal from Queen Clarisse Renaldi
Queen Clarisse Renaldi Dear Joseph... is it too late to ask you to accept my hand in marriage?