Prince Albert: I'm afraid so. And there she must stay, out on the lake; silent, white, majestic. Be a bird, but never fly; know one song but never sing it until the moment of death. And so it must be for you, Alexandra. Cool indifference to the staring crowds along the bank. And the song? Never.


--Alec Guinness (as Prince Albert) in The Swan

Prince Albert: Your father used to call you his swan, so I am told. I think that's a good thing to remember. Think what it means to be a swan. To glide like a dream on the smooth surface of the lake, and never go to the shore. On dry land, where ordinary people walk, the swan is awkward, even ridiculous. When she waddles up the bank she painfully resembles a different kind of bird, n'est-ce-pas?


--Alec Guinness (as Prince Albert) in The Swan

Professor Marcus: One-Round, there is a wheelbarrow outside, could you fetch it? The Major has a train to catch.


--Alec Guinness (as Professor Marcus) in The Ladykillers

Sidney Stratton: [Seeing the assistant's pen-lighter] That's ingenious. May I?
Assistant: Of course.
Sidney Stratton: [Flicking the lighter on] I wonder, can you tell me what is the ratio of ink to petrol?
Assistant: I don't know.


--Alec Guinness (as Sidney Stratton) in The Man in the White Suit

Sidney Stratton: It shouldn't have done that.


--Alec Guinness (as Sidney Stratton) in The Man in the White Suit

The Banker: A tragic loss serves to put lesser matters in their proper perspective.


--Alec Guinness (as The Duke / The Banker / The Parson / The General / The Admiral / Young Ascoyne / Young Henry / Lady Agatha) in Kind Hearts and Coronets

The Cardinal: Any confession I may be said to have made in prison, will be a lie, or the result of human weakness.


--Alec Guinness (as The Cardinal) in The Prisoner

The Cardinal: Shall I be allowed a priest before I die?
The Interrogator: There will be no need.
The Cardinal: I beg of you to let me see a priest.
The Interrogator: You're not to die.
The Cardinal: No? I'm to be hanged.
The Interrogator: The sentence has been commuted.
The Cardinal: What are they afraid of? Martyrdom? No one could make the world see me as a martyr now.
The Interrogator: It has been commuted.
The Cardinal: I've eased my mind with the thought of death. I can't see beyond it.


--Alec Guinness (as The Cardinal) in The Prisoner

The Cardinal: They want me to take my own life, so they can say I committed the last cowardice of all. I shan't do that, you know.
The Interrogator: No, I didn't think you would.
The Cardinal: No. I might live for twenty... thirty years. Yes, it's one thing I'd never thought of. It's more terrible than anything I could have thought of.
The Interrogator: [draws a pistol] I could pretend to call to the warder for help, as I fire. You want to pray?
The Cardinal: You'll do it?
The Interrogator: Do you want to pray?
The Cardinal: [kneels and prays in agony for a few moments] No, I can't ask you to commit murder. You offer me escape...
The Interrogator: And I thought of you as an animal, to be put out of its pain. Do you want to face the world outside?
The Cardinal: No. But I must.
The Interrogator: So the laugh is on me. You go out of my hands a stronger man than when you came to me.


--Alec Guinness (as The Cardinal) in The Prisoner

The Cardinal: Try not to judge the priesthood by the priest.


--Alec Guinness (as The Cardinal) in The Prisoner