Anna Leonowens Quotes in The King and I (1999)

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Anna Leonowens Quotes:

  • Tuptim: [holding a vase of flowers] For your room, Mrs. Anna.

    Anna Leonowens: Oh, how lovely!

    [Tuptim looks at poetry book]

    Anna Leonowens: Oh, you must have something in return.

    Tuptim: Oh no, Mrs. Anna, you will be punished for giving book to servant!

    Anna Leonowens: [giving Tuptim the poetry book] Oh, nonsense, I'm a teacher.

  • [after Anna has just received a house outside the palace]

    Anna Leonowens: I'm speechless.

    The King of Siam: For once!

  • Anna Leonowens: [teaching King's children] I have a surprise. A new, modern, British map.

    [Anna unrolls map out on wall]

    Prince Chululongkorn: Siam is not so *small!*

    Anna Leonowens: Oh but look, England's even smaller.

    King's other children: [all at once] Ah!

    Prince Chululongkorn: But royal palace is centre of whole universe.

    Anna Leonowens: Well, I suppose we think that of all our homes really - whether you live in a palace or not.

  • King Mongkut: I never danced with an Englishwoman before, mem.

    Anna Leonowens: Nor I with a king.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to King Mongkut] Life is... precious, especially if you're a Christian and only allowed to have one.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to King Mongkut] Your Majesty, promise me... Promise me that I will see you again.

  • Anna Leonowens: I would like to know why... , if science can unravel something as beautiful as music... , why it cannot posit a solution for a schoolteacher and a king.

    King Mongkut: The manner in which people might understand such new possibilities is also process of evolution.

    Anna Leonowens: Everything in Siam has its own time.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to King Mongkut] You cannot shut the world out forever. Believe me, I've tried.

  • King Mongkut: Why did you come back?

    Anna Leonowens: Because I could not imagine a Siam without you.

  • Prince Chulalongkorn: Son of teacher is forgetting I am son of King.

    Louis Leonowens: Son of teacher couldn't care less.

    Prince Chulalongkorn: You will sit somewhere else!

    Louis Leonowens: I will not!

    Anna Leonowens: Louis, remember what I told you.

    Louis Leonowens: I'm sorry Mother, but he started it.

    Prince Chulalongkorn: In my country, man never tell a woman he is sorry about anything... ever! If you had father, you would know that.

    Louis Leonowens: You don't have a father! You have a map!

    [Louis pushes the prince]

    Louis Leonowens: Louis!

    Prince Chulalongkorn: It is forbidden to touch royalty!

    Louis Leonowens: I didn't touch you!- I shoved you! Why don't you get one of your servants to shove me back?

  • Tuptim: I remember my first rice festival. People come from everywhere to see king. He bless all crops, and it begin to rain. I think he was a God.

    Anna Leonowens: And now?

    Tuptim: He is also a man.

  • Interpreter: Sir is married?

    Anna Leonowens: A widow. Can you please explain to me why you call me "Sir"?

    Interpreter: Women do not stand in the presence of His Excellency.

  • The Kralahome, Prime Minister: When presented to His Majesty, you and son will remember to touch forehead to floor.

    Anna Leonowens: Your Excellency, although we have become better acquainted with your customs, we have certainly not forgotten our own.

    The Kralahome, Prime Minister: Then how will you greet him?

    Anna Leonowens: With the utmost respect.

  • King Mongkut: You are teacher?

    Anna Leonowens: Yes, Your Majesty, I am.

    King Mongkut: You do not look sufficient of age for scientific teaching. How many years have you?

    Anna Leonowens: Enough to know that age and wisdom do not necessarily go hand in hand, Your Majesty.

  • King Mongkut: Presenting original pupil and heir apparent. Prince Chulalongkorn.

    [to the Prince]

    King Mongkut: This, my son, is your new teacher.

    Anna Leonowens: It is a great honor, Your Highness.

  • Tuptim: How did Mem survive?

    Anna Leonowens: The same way you will. One awful day at a time.

  • Anna Leonowens: Most people do not see the world as it is. They see it as they are.

  • Anna Leonowens: My mind has taken me down many roads of late. All of which lead absolutely nowhere. What would Buddha say of that?

    King Mongkut: That roads are for journeys, ma'am, not destinations.

  • King Mongkut: Gazing at the moon.

    Anna Leonowens: Yes, it is beautiful.

    King Mongkut: As the sun rises, she will surrender the night, but she is always with him, even when he cannot see her.

    Anna Leonowens: It must be a great comfort to him.

    King Mongkut: Yes.

  • Anna Leonowens: You have the power to lead your people...

    King Mongkut: Now is not the time to change the way that things are done!

    Anna Leonowens: Well, if not now, then when? How many more people must die so that you might save face?

  • The Kralahome, Prime Minister: Heir to throne must never be involved in issue of bond-servent. It will resolve itself in time.

    Anna Leonowens: Like my house?

    The Kralahome, Prime Minister: You are learning.

  • Anna Leonowens: In my letter confirming my employment, Your Majesty, you claimed you wanted Siam to take its place among the nations of the modern world. You spoke of building something greater than yourself. A country where no man is above the law. Which is why I chose to come here.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to Lord Bradley] You raised your glass to him. You commended him for his vision. All the while, you were waiting to take his country from him.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to King Mongkut] Why are you doing this?

  • Anna Leonowens: Everyone should have legends, I think. They allow us to dream.

  • Anna Leonowens: [to King Mongkut] Perhaps you should simply say what it is you're trying so hard not to.

  • King Mongkut: l have decided to give self anniversary dinner and invite important English nobles and diplomats.

    Anna Leonowens: l don't understand.

    King Mongkut: French lndochina grows stronger and more aggressive. But if l improve our foreign intercourse with your queen's special envoy, French will think three times before trying to undermine Siam.

    Anna Leonowens: That's very clever, Your Majesty.

    King Mongkut: As if to sound English bugles in own defense. You shall take charge of all formalities as Mem is obvious choice to make certain guests feel at home.

    Anna Leonowens: But... the anniversary is when?

    King Mongkut: Three weeks from yesterday.

    Anna Leonowens: Three weeks? That's impossible!

    King Mongkut: Mem... The egg is in the bottle.

  • Anna Leonowens: [ascending a staircase, arriving late for dinner, a little out of breath] Forgive me, Your Majesty. l believe the sun set a little earlier today.

    King Mongkut: [amused] Mem. You arrange all this to influence positive future of Siam. And now you steal attention away from it.

    Anna Leonowens: [shyly] Well, that was not my intention, Your Majesty.

  • King Mongkut: You! Why did you not go to monastery like king order?

    Anna Leonowens: Because l lost one man to the jungle, Your Majesty. l was not about to let that happen again.

Browse more character quotes from The King and I (1999)

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