From the Dowager Countess' witty jabs to Anna Bates' tender vows, Downton Abbey's characters always have the perfect words for any occasion. After five seasons of Downton Abbey, now is the occasion to revisit the very best lines of the series, and look back at the funniest and most moving quotes. Then, share your favorite quotes below!
Violet: "First electricity, now telephones. Sometimes I feel as if I were living in an H.G. Wells novel." (Season 1)
Mrs. Patmore: "Daisy, what’s happened to you? I said you could go for a drink of water, not a trip up the Nile." (Season 1)
Violet: "You are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. I never knew such reforming zeal." Isobel: "I take that as a compliment." Violet: "I must've said it wrong." (Season 1)
Anna: "I love you, Mr. Bates! And I know it's not ladylike to say so, but I'm not a lady and I don't pretend to be." (Season 1)
Lady Edith: "So he slipped the hook?" Lady Mary: "At least I'm not fishing with no bait." (Season 1)
Violet: "I'm not a romantic, but even I concede that the heart does not exist solely for the purpose to pump blood." (Season 2)
Daisy: "I’ve never been special to anyone." Mr. Mason: "Except William." Daisy: "That's right. I were only ever special to William. I never thought of it like that before." Mr. Mason: "Well, now you’re special to me." (Season 2)
Matthew: "You've lived your life, and I've lived mine. Now it's time we live them together." (Season 2)
Violet: "I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose." (Season 2)
Violet: "It’s true I think a woman’s place is eventually in the home, but there isn’t much harm in her having some fun before she gets there." (Season 3)
Cora: "You are being tested. And you know what they say my darling, being tested only makes you stronger." (Season 3)
Violet: "Seems a pity to miss such a good pudding." (Season 3)
Bates: "Do you never doubt? For just one minute? I wouldn't blame you." Anna: "No. And, before you ask, I don't doubt that the sun will rise in the east, either." (Season 3)
Matthew: "I have to take one thing for granted, that I will love you until the last breath leaves my body." (Season 3)
Carson: "I am not a complete stranger to romance, Mrs. Hughes, if that’s what you’re implying." (Season 4)
Isobel: "How you hate to be wrong." Violet: "I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the sensation." (Season 4)
Baxter: "You've made me strong, Mr. Molesley. Your strength has made me strong." (Season 4)
Mrs. Hughes: "You can always hold my hand if you need to feel steady." Carson: "I think I will hold your hand. It'll make me feel a bit steadier." (Season 4)
Violet: "[My maid Collins] keeps talking about her mother being infirm. But I'm infirm. Why can't she think of that?" Isobel: "You're as infirm as Windsor Castle." (Season 5)
Mrs. Patmore: "Sympathy butters no parsnips." (Season 5)
Robert: "There is nothing more ill-bred than trying to steal the affections of one's dog." (Season 5)
Violet: "Oh, it is you! I thought it was a man in your clothes." (Season 5)
Carson: "We must always travel in hope." (Season 5)
Violet: "You know me…Never complain, never explain." (Season 5)
Mrs. Hughes: "Of course I'll marry you, you old booby. I thought you'd never ask!" (Season 5)