“No one wants to kiss a girl in black.”

“I couldn’t have electricity in the house; I wouldn’t sleep a wink. All those vapors floating about.”

“No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else’s house.”

“To have strange men prodding and prying around the house. To say nothing of pocketing the spoons. It’s out of the question.”

“Don’t be defeatist, dear. It’s very middle-class.”

“Life is a game, where the player must appear ridiculous.”

“I’m not a romantic . . . But even I concede that the heart does not exist solely for the purpose of pumping blood.”

“When you give these little people power, it goes to their heads like strong drink.”

“Sometimes we must let the blow fall by degrees. Give him time to find the strength to face it.”

“The truth is neither here nor there. It’s the look of the thing that matters.”

A woman isn’t entitled to her own opinions “until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.”

“I’m a woman … I can be as contrary as I choose.”

“It’s bad enough parenting a child when you like each other.”

“You can normally find an Italian who isn’t too picky.”

“Oh, I should steer clear of May. Marry in May, rue the day.”

“Everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.”

“Americans never understand the importance of tradition.”

“Marriage is a long business.”

“Nothing succeeds like excess.”

“No guest should be admitted without the date of their departure being known.”

“It seems a pity to miss such a good pudding.”

“Grief makes one so terribly tired.”

“Lie is so unmusical a word.”

Finally, here’s a quote from Maggie Smith on working with the American actress Shirley MacLaine:

“I know there is something out there and like most people, I tend to believe in it more when things go bad. But I’m not like Shirley MacLaine, who probably believes we were past lovers in another life.”