Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Colin Firth: Stanley

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Quotes 

• Stanley : I can't forgive you, only God can forgive you.

  [He begins to walk out the door] 

  Sophie : But you said there is no God.

  Stanley : [stopping and turning for effect]  Precisely my point.

• Stanley : When the heart rules the head, disaster follows.

• Stanley : You're born, you commit no crime, and then you're sentenced to death.

• Stanley : I came to say that for some inexplicable reason that defies common sense and human understanding, that I have, of late, experienced some small... quite small but discernible, inner stirrings regarding your smile.

• Stanley : All my optimism was an illusion.

• Stanley : I have irrational positive feelings for Sophie Baker.

• Stanley : The comparison makes me laugh! Olivia is a person of accomplishment and charm. Sophie's a street finagler who makes her way living off one bit of hokum to the next.

  Aunt Vanessa : Well, I don't see how you can compare the two.

  Stanley : Well, don't put ideas into my head!

  Aunt Vanessa : Well, far be it from me!

  Stanley : Of course, she does come from dire circumstances. I mean, it's very easy to be judgmental about people who are born into circumstances less fortunate than one's own.

  Aunt Vanessa : Well, life is harsh. One must do what one must to survive.

  Stanley : Well put. And people do sometimes make the wrong choices, which they regret, even though no serious harm was done.

  Aunt Vanessa : Which of us has not made some blunders in life?

  Stanley : And there is a rather appealing quality about Sophie. Despite her disgusting behaviour.

  Aunt Vanessa : Yes, her smile is rather winning. Of course, it depends how much value you put on the purely physical.

  Stanley : Well, no, I... I, for one, esteem the higher virtues.

  Aunt Vanessa : Hmm... Beauty of the soul...

  Stanley : Although her eyes are rather pleasant to look into. And that she can be amusing, under the right circumstances.

  Aunt Vanessa : Oh, but Olivia is an educated, cultivated woman. One that befits a man of your artistic genius.

  Stanley : Yes, now, my genius must be factored in. On paper, there's really no reason to prefer Sophie to Olivia.

  Aunt Vanessa : Well, I would say the opposite.

  Stanley : ...And so your, your suggestion that I, I be honest with Olivia and tell her that as irrational as it seems, I've fallen in love with, with Sophie - that's a preposterous notion.

  Aunt Vanessa : It's lunacy.

  Stanley : ...Yet I can't help feeling that...

  Aunt Vanessa : ...That you love Sophie. Yes, I understand. You're puzzled and bewildered; because your foolish logic tells you that you should love Olivia.

  Stanley : Foolish logic?

  Aunt Vanessa : And yet, how little that logic means when placed next to Sophie's smile...

  Stanley : What are you saying?

  Aunt Vanessa : ...That the world may or may not be without purpose, but it's not totally without some kind of magic.

  Stanley : ...I have irrational positive feelings for Sophie Baker. It's like witnessing a trick I can't figure out.

• Stanley : You're prettiest at about 8:20 in the summer, when the light is fading.

• Stanley : [sees Sophie reading on a swing]  Taken to reading the great books?

  Sophie : Yes.

  [Stanley says nothing] 

  Sophie : Well, you once said not to despair. There's hope for my brain.

  Stanley : Perhaps I was a bit caustic... But you will admit you were guilty of some rather sleazy doings.

  Sophie : Yes, well, those days are over. I no longer have to worry about where to sleep and how to eat.

  Stanley : I take it Brice Catledge has made a serious marriage proposal?

  Sophie : Yes. A very tempting one. Wouldn't you agree?

  Stanley : Yes, I suppose so. But I'm here to make you a more tempting one.

  Sophie : More tempting than this?

  [shows ring with big rock] 

  Stanley : I came to say, that for some inexplicable reason that defines common sense and human understanding, that I have of late experienced some small... quite small, but discernible, inner stirrings regarding your smile.

  Sophie : How magnanimous of you.

  Stanley : Yes, I thought you'd think so.

  [Sophie rolls her eyes] 

  Stanley : And possessing a soul which is large and capable of complexity, as all great minds are, I have decided to forgive you and take you under my wing.

  Sophie : Your wing?

  Stanley : It's a saying. Obviously, I don't have wings. I only mean that, incredible as it sounds, and this is no small gesture, given the time wasted and the public embarrassment you've caused me, that I'm willing to take you back.

  Sophie : Take me back where?

  Stanley : Under the moon in the observatory.

  Sophie : ...I regretted what I was doing; I was too inept to change course, and I apologise. Really. And I accept your forgiveness. I understand that it's very generous of you, and I have to be going.

  Stanley : Going? I haven't said what I came for.

  Sophie : Well, then just say it, and go, because I have a dinner to go to with my fiancé.

  Stanley : ...I'm here to say... that in spite of everything, I am willing to consider marrying you.

  Sophie : What?

  Stanley : Naturally, you can't believe your good fortune, I appreciate that.

  Sophie : Stanley, brilliant as you are with a deck of cards, you are *terrible* at proposing.

  Stanley : ...I've never proposed before.

• Stanley : Live dangerously, I say. You only live once. Or maybe two or three times, depending on your supply of ectoplasm.

• Stanley : I'm beginning to question my own common sense.

  Aunt Vanessa : I've always questioned your common sense.

• Stanley : Happiness is *not* the natural human condition.

• Sophie : I'm sure Mr. Taplinger doesn't believe in the unseen world.

  Stanley : On the contrary, I always thought the unseen world was a good place to open a restaurant.

  Mrs. Baker : Um, time to go, Sophie.

  Stanley : The spirits have to eat somewhere.

• Sophie : But when you went on to show me how *irrational* it was, and-and then you *proved* it, with geometrical *logic*...

  Stanley : No, geometry was never my strong subject.

• Sophie : You never thought about me as a female?

  Stanley : Well, I was always certain you were not of my sex, if that's what you're asking.

• Stanley : We all hope someone will come along with superpowers, but the only superpower certain to show up wears a black robe.

• Stanley : As depressing as the facts of existence are, they are the facts. There is no metaphysical world. What you see out there is what you get. I think Mr. Nietzsche has disposed of the God matter rather convincingly.

• Stanley : [to God]  My aunt, whom I love, is in mortal danger. And so, I ask you... I ask you...

  [long pause] 

  Stanley : Wait a minute. This is the stupidest load of twaddle I have ever heard.

• Sophie : Stanley, brilliant as you are with a deck of cards, you're terrible at proposing.

  Stanley : [apologetically]  I've never proposed before.

• Stanley : There is no 'real thing', Howard! It's all phony! From the séance table to the Vatican and beyond!

• [first lines] 

  Stanley : I don't understand. Is the conductor a blithering idiot? He went over the tempo six times. It's Adagio, Adagio, Adagio! It's not racehorse tempo.

• Stanley : I view your behavior as a great man views the malicious mischief of... what shall we say, pygmy?