The Quiet American Quotes

[first lines]

Thomas Fowler: [narrating] I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam.That a woman's voice can drug you? That everything is so intense? The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London.

Thomas Fowler: They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that's the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there's a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.

[last lines]

Thomas Fowler: [voiceover] They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in a few minutes. The rest has got to be lived. They say whatever it was you were looking for, you will find here. They say there is a ghost in every house, and if you can make peace with him, he will stay quiet.

Thomas Fowler: Colonel The.

Hinh: [Correcting him] General The.

Thomas Fowler: Who made him a General?

Hinh: He did.

Hinh: [after Thomas Fowler, in Saigon, receives a letter recalling him back to London] I thought you liked London.

Thomas Fowler: I do. But I like London fine where it is, I don't want to bloody go there.

Phuong: Pyle est mort?

Thomas Fowler: Yes,

Phuong: Pyle was in love with me.

Alden Pyle: Have you had a lot of women, Thomas?

Thomas Fowler: You start out by being promiscuous and end up like your grandfather... faithful to one woman.

Alden Pyle: I trusted you. Thomas.

Thomas Fowler: Always a mistake with a woman involved.

Thomas Fowler: I have never thought of myself as a correspondent, just a reporter. I offer no point of view, I take no action, I don't get involved. I just report what I see.

Alden Pyle: But you must have an opinion.

Thomas Fowler: Even an opinion is a form of action.

Thomas Fowler: Morning Hinh!

Hinh: Yeah!

Thomas Fowler: Anything new?

Hinh: Oh! Corruption, mendacity...

Thomas Fowler: I said new.

Alden Pyle: [to Phuong] I'm in love with you.

Thomas Fowler: Shouldn't you be on one knee?

Thomas Fowler: [incensed on Alden's part in a bombing] Doesn't it bother you?

Alden Pyle: [Distraught] What I saw made me disgusted, but if it keeps out the communists it's necessary.

Alden Pyle: [from the trailer] Are you married?

Thomas Fowler: Yes

[points to Phuong]

Thomas Fowler: ... But not to her!

Thomas Fowler: [referring to Phuong] Are you married yet?

Alden Pyle: No, I figured I'd wait until we got home and do it properly.

Thomas Fowler: You don't mind living here improperly?

Alden Pyle: [with a flash of annoyance] It's hard to talk to you if you're going to be so cynical.

Thomas Fowler: I drive through the streets, and I care not a damn, The people they stare, and they ask who I am.

Alden Pyle: And if I should chance to run over a cad, I can pay for the damage if ever so bad.

Thomas Fowler: Are you saying that Pyle is O.S.S?

Hinh: I believe the new designation is C.I.A.

Thomas Fowler: [referring to General The] He tried to kill you on the road to Saigon.

Alden Pyle: No Thomas, he tried to kill you.

Thomas Fowler: Liberty is a western word. How do you define it for the Vietnamese?

Alden Pyle: The freedom to choose.

Thomas Fowler: OK, you give them that, they vote and they elect Ho Chi Minh.