The Remains of the Day Quotes
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Source: The Remains of the Day
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
"What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took?"
The hard reality is, surely, that for the likes of you and I, there is little choice other than to leave our fate, ultimately, in the hands of those great gentlemen at the hub of this world who employ our services. What is the point in worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took?
Context
This line is from the novel The Remains of the Day, written by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989).
If you were to cross Downtown Abbey with National Lampoon's Vacation and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, you'd get The Remains of the Day, a book about a butler taking a road trip to ponder regret and responsibility. And who's coming to dinner? Nazis, that's who, invited to dinner by the butler's master.
Near the end of his road trip, the butler decides that there is no point worrying about it anymore! At least, not if you're in the working class like he is. It's a bittersweet ending, sweet in that he's had a personal epiphany and bitter because, well, if there's no point worrying about it, why did we read the whole book?
Where you've heard it
You hear this when someone wracked with guilt finally decides to move on with his or her life.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
As far as sayings by stuffy British butlers go, this one is on the lower end of the pretentiousness spectrum.