- George Russell: And remember, I'm a rich man, which means I'm a villain. Certainly in a jury's eyes, if it ever gets that far.
- Ada Brook: Well, I'm not Rip Van Winkle, Agnes. And I understand that young men have to sow their wild oats.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Even if that were true, they do not have to sow them with servants.
- Ada Brook: What would you prefer? An actress? Or a prostitute?
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Ada! I'm going to have to ring for my smelling salts if you do not moderate your tone. You should not even know these words exist.
- Ada Brook: Well, I do. And I know that well brought up young ladies are not the girls lighting the cigars of their escorts at Delmonico's.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: You are forcing me to reevaluate your character.
- T. Thomas Fortune: Tell me, what are your thoughts on electricity?
- Peggy Scott: Are you talking about Mr. Edison's lights?
- T. Thomas Fortune: Well, Mr. Edison is not solely responsible.
- Peggy Scott: Who else was involved?
- T. Thomas Fortune: Namely, Lewis Latimer, a colored inventor. He created a better carbon filament. That's the thing in the bulb that helps keep the lights on, so to speak.
- Peggy Scott: Well, I'm sure that Mr. Edison will give Mr. Latimer his due credit at the ceremony.
- T. Thomas Fortune: [laughing] I admire your wit, Miss Scott.
- Marian Brook: It's odd how some people are forgiven their past misdemeanors, while others, like Mrs. Chamberlain, must pay for them forever.
- Tom Raikes: The trick is to find your way into the first group.
- Marian Brook: Mrs. Van Rhijn strongly believes that it is an improper liaison.
- Bertha Russell: What proof is there?
- Marian Brook: They were in the street together, and she laid her hand on his arm.
- Bertha Russell: Is every woman who touches a man's sleeve in the middle of an improper affair?
- Marian Brook: My aunt believes that is generally the case when the couple are of a very different rank.
- Watson: When electricity comes, half our jobs go up in smoke. Cooking, cleaning, it'll all be done with electricity before you know it.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: My mother always told me never to write anything I wouldn't want printed on the letters page of a popular journal.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Oscar has disgraced himself.
- Ada Brook: With Mrs. Russell's maid.
- Marian Brook: How democratic.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: It is no laughing matter. Really.
- Marian Brook: I'm always overwhelmed by Bloomingdale's. There are more items in that one store than there were in the whole of Doylestown.
- George Russell: I don't think it in the least funny that I'm facing the possibility of prison, and my wife is more concerned with the date of a ball.
- Marian Brook: You have one life, Mr. Russell. If you take the wrong path, you will pay the price for many years.
- Bertha Russell: Must everything in life present a challenge?
- Ward McAllister: Everything worth having.
- Larry Russell: Father, you're a genius. You made a fortune that will go down in legend. I doubt there are a dozen men as successful as you in this country. I doubt there are a hundred in the world.
- George Russell: You are very kind.
- Larry Russell: What chance do you think I have of equaling that if I follow in your footsteps?
- George Russell: Well...
- Larry Russell: I must always be the disappointing son of a great man. The poor second act. The failure. But if I take another path entirely, like architecture, I have the chance to make a mark of my own.
- Ward McAllister: Of course you must come to Newport. I insist. The town is just waiting for you to tear down its defenses and conquer it.
- Sylvia Chamberlain: When you're young, it feels a small thing to turn your back on society, but as the years go on, it can be a lonely place out there. Make sure you are very much in love, as I was, or there may come a day when the road you've taken does not seem worth it.
- Turner: The she-wolf is planning something big for Miss Gladys, and it would warm my heart to see her high hopes shattered.
- Turner: I was helping her to change for dinner when she said it. 'I think it's time for us to part.' Had my hands on her neck at the time. I wanted to tighten my grip and squeeze the life out of her.
- Oscar Van Rhijn: I wish you had. It would have made things simpler for us both.
- Ada Brook: Taming electricity is probably the most important innovation of our lifetime.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: And is that something to celebrate?
- Marian Brook: I think so. I wish I was there. To see Park Row illuminated?
- Agnes Van Rhijn: But with what sort of people? Ruffians, thieves, and worse.
- Marian Brook: Mrs. Russell's taking a party.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: I rest my case.
- Marian Brook: Well, he's friendly with the Rikers now, and the Rockwells, and last week, he dined with Mrs. Randolph.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Do all his friends have names beginning with R?
- Marian Brook: I know you think he only mixes with the new people...
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Like Mrs. Russell. Another R.
- Tom Raikes: There are so many distractions in New York. So many sideshows. It must be easy for people to drift down the wrong path, even when they know the right one.
- Ward McAllister: This is a turning point in history, Mrs. Russell. But are we headed in the right direction?
- Bertha Russell: We don't have a choice in the matter, Mr. McAllister. We must go where history takes us.
- Gladys Russell: But surely the point of going there is to be by the sea. To feel the wind in your hair and listen to the waves. And that's all free.
- Ward McAllister: Charming as you make it sound, I don't think you have quite captured the spirit of Newport.
- Aurora Fane: Hardly. You need four outfits a day, at the minimum, decent jewels, and a full dance card.
- Sylvia Chamberlain: It's by Monsieur Degas. He's one of the group they call the Impressionists. We were in Paris in 1863 when they mounted their first exhibition. It was known as Le Salon des Refusés. They'd been turned down by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, you see. It's a favorite of mine.