Terry McKay: Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories... we've already missed the spring!


--Deborah Kerr (as Terry McKay) in An Affair to Remember

Terry McKay: Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories... we've already missed the spring.


--Deborah Kerr (as Terry McKay) in An Affair to Remember

J. Miller: You should visit England one day. You may change your mind.
Bridie Quilty: There's no need. I've an aunt there who has told me all about it. She says the upper classes are cringing and always moaning about their troubles, and the lower classes are arrogant and think they own the Earth.
J. Miller: I thought it was the other way round.
Bridie Quilty: My aunt runs a servants' registry office.
J. Miller: Ah!
Bridie Quilty: There's no "ah" about it. She hates the whole lot of them, and so do I. My father fought for Ireland against the English in 1916, and if I ever get the chance I shall do the same.
J. Miller: For a subject of a neutral country, aren't you being a little belligerent?
Bridie Quilty: There's nothing belligerent about it. It's entirely a question of which side I'm neutral on.


--Deborah Kerr (as ) in I See a Dark Stranger

Tuptim: Good day, Madam. My name is Tuptim. I already speak English.
Anna: And very nicely, too.


--Deborah Kerr (as Anna Leonowens) in The King and I

Mother Dorothea: -
[With Sister Clodagh: looking at photos of the palace at Mopu]
Mother Dorothea: The house is nine thousand feet up - very cold, but good air. General Toda Rai, who has invited us to Mopu, has promised us every help. He was a little afraid when he learned that we are bound to our order only by yearly vows. I explained this rule to him.
Sister Clodagh: Yes, Reverend Mother.
Mother Dorothea: For more than a century, to serve voluntarily has been one of the glories of our Order.
Sister Clodagh: And our greatest strength.
Mother Dorothea: Exactly. He understands now. Is there anything you would like to ask?
Sister Clodagh: Who am I to take with me?


--Deborah Kerr (as Sister Clodagh) in Black Narcissus

Mother Dorothea: [At their Order's office in Calcutta] Sister Clodagh, we may proceed with our plans at Mopu. It will be called "Saint Faith."
Sister Clodagh: [Mechanically repeating the Reverend Mother's words] "Saint Faith."
Mother Dorothea: And YOU have been appointed to take charge of Saint Faith.
Sister Clodagh: I, Reverend Mother?
Mother Dorothea: You... You will be the youngest Sister Superior in our order.
Sister Clodagh: Thank you, Reverend Mother.


--Deborah Kerr (as Sister Clodagh) in Black Narcissus

Mother Dorothea: [the Reverend Mother and Sister Clodagh survey the sisters of the Order, determining who will go to Mopu] Remember, a community is not a class of girls. The sisters won't be easy to manage or to impress. Now, let me see. I'll give you Sister Briony. You'll need her strength.
Sister Clodagh: Thank you, Reverend Mother.
Mother Dorothea: Sister Philippa for the garden... Sister Blanche.
Sister Clodagh: Sister Blanche?
Mother Dorothea: You know what the other girls call her?
Sister Clodagh: Sister Honey.
Mother Dorothea: Yes, Honey. I think you'll need Sister Honey. She's popular. And you'll need to be popular... And Sister Ruth.
Sister Clodagh: [Surprised] But Sister Ruth is ill.
Mother Dorothea: That is why I want her to go.
Sister Clodagh: Forgive me for saying so, Reverend Mother, but do you think our vocation is her vocation?
Mother Dorothea: [Nodding knowingly] Yes, she's a problem. I'm afraid she'll be a problem for you, too. With a smaller community, she may be better. Give her responsibility, Sister. She badly wants importance.
Sister Clodagh: Do you think it's a good thing to let her feel important?
Mother Dorothea: Spare her some of your own importance... if you can.
Sister Clodagh: Mother, are you sorry that I have been appointed to take charge of St. Faith?
Mother Dorothea: Yes. I don't think you're ready for it, and I think you'll be lonely. Never forget: we're an order of workers. Work them hard. And remember... the superior of all is the servant of all.
Sister Clodagh: I understand.


--Deborah Kerr (as Sister Clodagh) in Black Narcissus

Tom Lee: I'm always falling in love with the wrong people.
Laura Reynolds: Who isn't?


--Deborah Kerr (as Laura Reynolds) in Tea and Sympathy

[Bridie's thoughts as she sizes up her compartment-mate on a train.]
Bridie Quilty: His hair is going grey, but it looks very nice the way he has it brushed. He's a faraway look in his eyes... a poet maybe. No, he's much too clean. And he puts his trousers under the mattress like Terence Delaney. Hasn't he the lovely nails? He's a gentleman, I think. I don't like being alone with a strange man at this time of night. He doesn't look that sort of man, of course, but how can you tell? Mr. McGee didn't look that sort of man, and Mr. Clogherty... was a terrible shock to me. Hmm, he's a traveller from abroad. Miller, Miller, that can't be an Irish name... he's English! Of all of the compartments of this train, I have to get into one with an Englishman. Why, I might have known it! Will you look at him, will you look at the cruel set of his jaw! You could mistake him for Cromwell!


--Deborah Kerr (as ) in I See a Dark Stranger

[first lines]
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Let's just keep it quiet, ma'am. You speak English?
Sister Angela: Yes.
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Are there any Japs around?
Sister Angela: You're... You're an American.


--Deborah Kerr (as Sister Angela) in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison