How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Miss Kenton's letter set off a certain chain of ideas to do with professional matters here at Darlington Hall. (1.9)
Stevens's memories are often set off by random occurrences, but perhaps the most important inspiration is Miss Kenton's letter.
Quote #2
[…] the letter from Miss Kenton, containing as it did, along with its long, rather unrevealing passages, an unmistakable nostalgia for Darlington Hall. (1.15)
"Nostalgia" is a tricky word. People who are nostalgic think of the past as somehow ideal and long to return to it. As the novel proceeds, nostalgia becomes increasingly problematic… because the past begins to seem extra ideal and rose-tinted.
Quote #3
However, let me return to my original thread. (1.40)
Stevens is often distracted by his memories, and even by memories within his memories. He has a hard time appreciating the scenery, which is what this trip was supposed to be about.
Quote #4
If this is a painful memory, forgive me. But I will never forget that time we both watched your father walking back and forth in front of the summerhouse, looking down at the ground as though he hoped to find some precious jewel he had dropped there. (3.11)
Sometimes an image will send Stevens down memory lane; this one is from Miss Kenton.
Quote #5
In fact, now that I come to think of it, I have a feeling it may have been Lord Darlington himself who made that particular remark to me that time he called me into his study some two months after that exchange with Miss Kenton outside the billiard room. (3.103)
In the process of remembering, Stevens finds that he is sometimes mistaken about the actual date or circumstances in which a particular event has occurred, or who said what when.
Quote #6
[…] a broad alliance of figures who shared the conviction that the situation in Germany should not be allowed to persist. These were not only Britons and Germans, but also Belgians, French, Italians, Swiss; they were diplomats and political persons of high rank; distinguished clergymen; retired military gentlemen; writers and thinkers. (3.184)
Stevens spends some time considering the time period, particularly the general mood of the years leading up to World War II. Here he remembers that it was possible to be critical of the Versailles treaty without being branded a Nazi.
Quote #7
Anyone who implies that Lord Darlington was liaising covertly with a known enemy is just conveniently forgetting the true climate of those times. (5.21)
Stevens bemoans the fact that so many people could collectively forget the real "climate" of public opinion in the years leading up to World War II.
Quote #8
There was surely nothing to indicate at the time that such evidently small incidents would render whole dreams forever irredeemable. (6.200)
Stevens also remembers in order to try to understand how things came to be. It seems that events that seemed minor at the time—like Miss Kenton crying behind her door—become significant in hindsight.
Quote #9
But now, having thought further, I believe I may have been a little confused about this matter, that in fact this fragment of memory derives from events that took place on an evening at least a few months after the death of Miss Kenton's aunt. (7.33)
Like Quote #6, this quote provides an instance of Stevens correcting himself. Remembering the right context for an event is critical to understanding its true significance.
Quote #10
"[…] After all, there's no turning back the clock now. One can't be forever dwelling on what might have been. One should realize one has as good as most, perhaps better, and be grateful." (8.51)
Miss Kenton suggests to Stevens that it's no use living in the past. But given how weary she seems, this chipper quote seems kind of forced.