Book Review: The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey

What an excellent gift book for fans of Downton Abbey! Compiled by the scriptwriter's niece, Jessica Fellowes, The Wit and Wisdom of Downton Abbey provides many smiles of remembrance. Who can forget some of the zingers lobbed by the fiesty Dowager Countess? The deft dialogue between her and Isobel? Or the peppery retorts of Mrs. Patmore?

Here are my top ten favorite Downton Abbey lines from this compilation:

Robert: "We all have chapters we would rather keep unpublished."

Violet: "I haven't been into the kitchens here for at least, oh, twenty years at least."
Isobel: "Have you brought your passport?"

Violet: "I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose."

Carlisle: "I'm leaving in the morning, Lady Grantham. I doubt we'll meet again."
Violet: "Do you promise?"

Mrs. Patmore: "Daisy? What's happened? I said you could go for a drink of water, not a trip up the Nile."

Daisy: "I was only trying to help."
Mrs. Patmore: "Oh, like Judas was only 'trying to help' I s'pose, when he brought the Roman soldiers to the gardens!"

Daisy: "I think I've let misself down."
Mrs. Patmore: "It can't be a new sensation."

Mrs. Patmore: "You couldn't be harder on those potatoes if you wanted them to confess to spying."

Isobel: "How you hate to be wrong!"
Violet: "I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the sensation."

Edith: "You think yourself so superior, don't you?"
Mary: "Why not? I am."

And if you'd like a full immersion, watch this Slate video of the best burns from the Dowager Countess: