Downton Abbey 1×6

Isobel Crawley: I applaud your spirit in coming, and I will applaud your discretion when you leave.

Lady Sybil Crawley: I hope you do go into politics. ...
Branson: If I do, it's not all about women and the vote for me, nor even freedom for Ireland. It's the gap between the aristocracy and the poor, and...
Lady Sybil Crawley: And what?
Branson: I'm sorry. I don't mean to speak against his lordship.
Lady Sybil Crawley: Why not? You obviously don't approve of him.
Branson: Not as a representative of an oppressive class. But he's a good man and a decent employer. Spoken like a true politician.

Lady Mary Crawley: I was only going to say that Sybil is entitled to her opinions.
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: No, she isn't until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Now, first I must ask, and I want you to think carefully before you answer. Is any of this true?.. I see. Some of it is true. How much?.. Oh, dear.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Well. I always thought this family might be approaching dissolution. I didn't know dissolution was already upon us.

Lady Sybil Crawley: This isn't the end. You mustn't give up. We'll get there.
Gwen Dawson: Forgive me, my lady, but, well, you don't get it. You're brought up to think it's all within your grasp, that if you want something enough, it will come to you. But we're not like that. We don't think our dreams are bound to come true because... Because they almost never do.
Lady Sybil Crawley: Then that's why we must stick together. Your dream is my dream now. And I'll make it come true.

Branson: I never would have taken her there. I may be a Socialist but I'm not a lunatic.
Lady Mary Crawley: I'm not sure Papa knows the difference.

Cora, Countess of Grantham: I hope you thanked Matthew properly.
Lady Mary Crawley: I got them to make him some sandwiches.
Cora, Countess of Grantham: It's not quite what I meant.
Lady Mary Crawley: And he asked me to marry him.
Cora, Countess of Grantham: Heavens. What did they put in them?

Cora, Countess of Grantham: Do you love Matthew?
Lady Mary Crawley: Yes. I think perhaps I do. I think I may have loved him for much longer than I knew.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Now, I've been thinking... I confess I do not know if I would have had the strength, mentally or physically, to carry a corpse the length of this house. But I hope I would have done.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: You were quite right. When something bad happens, there's no point in wishing it had not happened. The only option is to minimise the damage. Or try to.

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: For heaven's sake, why?
Cora, Countess of Grantham: She thinks to keep it secret would be dishonourable.
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: She reads too many novels. I mean, one way or another, everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.

Cora, Countess of Grantham: Thank you for not turning against her. I know that you have rules, and when people break them you find it hard to forgive. I understand that and I respect it.
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: In this case Mary has the trump card.
Cora, Countess of Grantham: What?
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: Mary is family.

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