Maggie Smith’s best quotes as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey

Anyone who knows the series knows that the Dowager Countess’s jokes were almost always accompanied by humor and factual wisdom. Her humor took on a poignant tone in the latest film, released in 2022, especially in light of recent news. Your character dies.

Surrounded by her loved ones, before the moment of her death, she quips: “Stop making the noise, I can’t hear myself dying!”

Read on for some of the Dowager Countess’ best lines.

To society

“What’s a weekend?”

“Don’t be defeatist, dear, it’s a real middle class.”

“When you give these little people power, what always happens is that it goes to their heads like strong drink.”

On technology

“I couldn’t have electricity in the house, I wouldn’t sleep a wink. All these fumes floating around.”

When it was learned that the swivel chair was invented by Thomas Jefferson: “Why is there a fight with an American every day?”

After a phone problem: “Is this a communication tool or torture?”

Classic zingers

Looking at Lavinia, Matthew Crawley’s fiancée: “So this is Mary’s replacement. Well, I guess looks aren’t everything.”

In response to Sir Richard’s statement: “I doubt we will meet again”: “Do you promise?”

In response to Isobel Crawley, who takes her observations as a compliment: “I must have said it wrong.”

On the English

“Last night! He looked so good. Of course it would happen to a foreigner. No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else’s house.”

To Cora on the subject of her American mother: “I’m so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I am with her I am reminded of the virtues of the English.”

About manners

“An unhappy friend is boring enough, an unhappy acquaintance is unbearable.”

“I have a lot of friends I don’t like.”

“I don’t like him. I just don’t like him, that’s something completely different.”

About love and marriage

“I’m no romantic, but even I admit that the heart isn’t just about pumping blood.”

“I know several couples who are completely happy. Haven’t spoken in years.”

“My love, love is a far more dangerous motive than aversion.”

To femininity

“In one way or another, every woman walks down the aisle hiding half the story.”

“I am a woman, Mary. I can be as opposite as I want.”

“A woman my age can face reality much better than most men.”

Life advice and reflections

“No guest should be allowed in without their departure date being set.”

“Principles are like prayers; Classy, ​​of course, but uncomfortable at a party.”

“When a tragedy occurs, we try to find someone to blame. And when there is no suitable candidate, we usually blame ourselves. You are not to blame. It’s no one’s fault.”

“Sir Richard, life is a game in which the player must appear ridiculous.”

“No life seems worthwhile if you think about it too much.”

“All life is a series of problems that we must try and solve.”

“Does it ever get cold up there on the moral plane?”