17 quotes
Critique of Outdated Marriage Expectations
Kitty Fane
The very idea that a woman should marry any Tom, Dick, or Harry... regardless of her own feelings is simply prehistoric.
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Unfulfilled Hopes in a Troubled Marriage
Walter Fane
I knew when I married you that you were selfish and spoiled. But I loved you. I knew that you married me only to get as far away from your mother as possible... and I hoped that one day there'd be something more. I was wrong.
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Expression of Feelings of Uselessness
Kitty Fane
That's exactly what I'm trying to say. I feel useless.
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Complex Perspectives on Gratitude and Care
Kitty
They brought in a new baby today. The girls named her Zan Xien.It means "brand-new." The nuns are going to call it Katherine, which, of course... none of the girls will be able to say. Thank goodness for those nuns. They do so much for so little in return.
Walter
I suppose you could look at it that way.
Kitty
You suppose?
Walter
I think it might be a bit more complicated than that.
Kitty
They take in desperate children and give them a chance at life. What could be so complicated about that?
Walter
They also go to young mothers in their homes. They ask them to give their babies to the convent. They offer them money to support their families to persuade them to do it. They're not just here to run an orphanage, your nuns. They're turning those children into little Catholics. None of us are in China without a reason.
Kitty
Still, on the whole... I think that what they're doing is a pretty good deed, don't you?
Walter
I'm here to study bacteria. I don't feel a need to have an opinion about the rest.
Kitty
Well, I do, and I admire them. I don't think it has to be so complicated and gloomy. And I think what you're doing, for instance, is incredibly noble.
Walter
You used to feel contempt for me. Don't you still?
Kitty
Walter. I can't believe that you, with all your cleverness... should have such little sense of proportion. We humans are more complex than your silly little microbes. We're unpredictable. We make mistakes and we disappoint.
Walter
Yes, we certainly do.
Kitty
I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not the perfect young woman that you want me to be. I'm just ordinary. I never tried to pretend that I was anything else.
Walter
No, you certainly didn't.
Kitty
I like the theater, and dancing... and playing tennis. I like games. I like men who play games. God forgive me, that's the way I was brought up.
Walter
I play a pretty fierce hand of bridge.
Kitty
Oh, well, that's bloody exciting. And you, you dragged me around all those interminable galleries in Venice... blathering on about the miracle of the canals... and the flushing of the lagoon system, or some such nonsense. Honestly, I'd have been much happier playing golf at Sandwich.
Walter
I suppose you're right.
Walter
It was silly of us to look for qualities in each other that we never had.
Kitty
Yes. Yes, it was.
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Seeking relief from emotional suffering
Kitty Fane
For God sakes, will you stop punishing me?
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Acceptance of Irrelevance in the Present Moment
Walter Fane
It doesn't matter now.
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Responsibility for Love Lies with the Man
Kitty Fane
If a man hasn't what's necessary to make a woman love him... then it's his fault, not hers.
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Unforgiven Moments in Personal Reflection
Kitty Fane
There's nothing to forgive.
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Insignificance in Relationships
Kitty Fane
No one important, darling.
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A Plea for Forgiveness
Walter Fane
Forgive me.
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Colonel Yu on China's Identity and Belonging
Colonel Yu
I think China belongs to Chinese people... but the rest of the world seems to disagree.
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Self-Despair in Love's Wake
Walter Fane
I despise myself. For allowing myself to love you once.
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Changing Power Dynamics in China
Colonel Yu
These men are like animals. They have no vision. They only have hunger and strength. Men like this have held the real power in China since I was young. But that time is coming to an end. There's no place for them in the new China.
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Desiring Collaboration Without Conflict
Colonel Yu
But it would be nice to do this work together... without your country's guns pointing at our people.
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The Futility of Effort in Life
Kitty Fane
Does seem silly, really. To put all that effort into... something that's just going to die.
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Love and Duty Unite in Grace
Mother Superior
But when love and duty are one, then grace is within you.
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Misunderstandings in Love Between Men and Women
Charles Townsend
Women are often under the impression that men are much more in love with them than they really are.
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