The Remains of the Day

by

Kazuo Ishiguro

The owner of Darlington Hall, which has been in his family for hundreds of years, Lord Darlington is described by various characters as a true old gentleman. After fighting in World War I, Lord Darlington was inspired to get involved in politics and attempt to ease relations between Britain and Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, as the Nazis were growing in power. Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Darlington is at the center of the historical movement for “appeasement,” and he even welcomes collaboration with major Nazi figures. Since Lord Darlington is described through the eyes of Stevens, it’s difficult to tell just how much he bought into Nazi rhetoric; whether his anti-Semitism, for instance, was a true belief he held or, as Stevens says, something that he embraced only for a time as a result of the nefarious influence of others. The novel does seem to make clear that Lord Darlington’s status as a “gentleman,” with an earnest belief in congeniality, cooperation, and polite discussion, is more naïve than evil, but also entirely unsuited to the political requirements of the time. He finds himself as a result on the wrong side of history, as Stevens only gradually comes to admit to himself.

Lord Darlington Quotes in The Remains of the Day

The The Remains of the Day quotes below are all either spoken by Lord Darlington or refer to Lord Darlington . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
).
Day Two: Morning Quotes

But now that I think further about it, I am not sure Miss Kenton spoke quite so boldly that day. […] I am not sure she could actually have gone so far as to say things like: “these errors may be trivial in themselves, but you must yourself realize their larger significance.” In fact, now that I come to think of it, I have a feeling it may have been Lord Darlington himself who made that particular remark to me that time he called me into his study some two months after that exchange with Miss Kenton outside the billiard room.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Miss Kenton (Mrs. Benn), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:

“He is an amateur and international affairs today are no longer for gentleman amateurs. The sooner you here in Europe realize that the better. All you decent, well-meaning gentlemen, let me ask you, have you any idea what sort of place the world is becoming all around you? The days when you could act out of your noble instincts are over. Except of course, you here in Europe don’t yet seem to know it.”

Related Characters: Mr. Lewis (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 102
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Two: Afternoon Quotes

Let me say that Lord Darlington was a gentleman of great moral stature—a stature to dwarf most of the persons you will find talking this sort of nonsense about him—and I will readily vouch that he remained that to the last. Nothing could be less accurate than to suggest that I regret my association with such a gentleman. Indeed, you will appreciate that to have served his lordship at Darlington Hall during those years was to come as close to the hub of this world’s wheel as one such as I could ever have dreamt.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Three: Morning Quotes

And then again, you will hear these same persons talking as though Lord Darlington did something unusual in receiving hospitality from the Nazis on the several trips he made to Germany during those years. […] The fact is, the most established, respected ladies and gentleman were availing themselves of the hospitality of the German leaders, and I can vouch at first hand that the great majority of these persons were returning with nothing but praise and admiration for their hosts. Anyone who implies that Lord Darlington was liaising covertly with a known enemy is just conveniently forgetting the true climate of those times.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 136-137
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Three: Evening Quotes

Throughout the years I served him, it was he and he alone who weighed up evidence and judged it best to proceed in the way he did, while I simply confined myself, quite properly, to affairs within my own professional realm. And as far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many may consider “first rate.” It is hardly my fault if his lordship’s life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste—and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Four: Afternoon Quotes

I remember this American chap, even drunker than I am now, he got up at the dinner table in front of the whole company. And he pointed at his lordship and called him an amateur. Called him a bungling amateur and said he was out of his depth. Well, I have to say, Stevens, that American chap was quite right. It’s a fact of life. Today’s world is too foul a place for fine and noble instincts.

Related Characters: Mr. Reginald Cardinal (speaker), Mr. Stevens, Lord Darlington
Page Number: 224
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Six: Evening Quotes

“Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship’s wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really—one has to ask oneself—what dignity is there in that?”

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lord Darlington Quotes in The Remains of the Day

The The Remains of the Day quotes below are all either spoken by Lord Darlington or refer to Lord Darlington . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Dignity and Greatness  Theme Icon
).
Day Two: Morning Quotes

But now that I think further about it, I am not sure Miss Kenton spoke quite so boldly that day. […] I am not sure she could actually have gone so far as to say things like: “these errors may be trivial in themselves, but you must yourself realize their larger significance.” In fact, now that I come to think of it, I have a feeling it may have been Lord Darlington himself who made that particular remark to me that time he called me into his study some two months after that exchange with Miss Kenton outside the billiard room.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Miss Kenton (Mrs. Benn), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:

“He is an amateur and international affairs today are no longer for gentleman amateurs. The sooner you here in Europe realize that the better. All you decent, well-meaning gentlemen, let me ask you, have you any idea what sort of place the world is becoming all around you? The days when you could act out of your noble instincts are over. Except of course, you here in Europe don’t yet seem to know it.”

Related Characters: Mr. Lewis (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 102
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Two: Afternoon Quotes

Let me say that Lord Darlington was a gentleman of great moral stature—a stature to dwarf most of the persons you will find talking this sort of nonsense about him—and I will readily vouch that he remained that to the last. Nothing could be less accurate than to suggest that I regret my association with such a gentleman. Indeed, you will appreciate that to have served his lordship at Darlington Hall during those years was to come as close to the hub of this world’s wheel as one such as I could ever have dreamt.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Three: Morning Quotes

And then again, you will hear these same persons talking as though Lord Darlington did something unusual in receiving hospitality from the Nazis on the several trips he made to Germany during those years. […] The fact is, the most established, respected ladies and gentleman were availing themselves of the hospitality of the German leaders, and I can vouch at first hand that the great majority of these persons were returning with nothing but praise and admiration for their hosts. Anyone who implies that Lord Darlington was liaising covertly with a known enemy is just conveniently forgetting the true climate of those times.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 136-137
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Three: Evening Quotes

Throughout the years I served him, it was he and he alone who weighed up evidence and judged it best to proceed in the way he did, while I simply confined myself, quite properly, to affairs within my own professional realm. And as far as I am concerned, I carried out my duties to the best of my abilities, indeed to a standard which many may consider “first rate.” It is hardly my fault if his lordship’s life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste—and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account.

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Four: Afternoon Quotes

I remember this American chap, even drunker than I am now, he got up at the dinner table in front of the whole company. And he pointed at his lordship and called him an amateur. Called him a bungling amateur and said he was out of his depth. Well, I have to say, Stevens, that American chap was quite right. It’s a fact of life. Today’s world is too foul a place for fine and noble instincts.

Related Characters: Mr. Reginald Cardinal (speaker), Mr. Stevens, Lord Darlington
Page Number: 224
Explanation and Analysis:
Day Six: Evening Quotes

“Lord Darlington wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t a bad man at all. And at least he had the privilege of being able to say at the end of his life that he made his own mistakes. His lordship was a courageous man. He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship’s wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really—one has to ask oneself—what dignity is there in that?”

Related Characters: Mr. Stevens (speaker), Lord Darlington
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis: