How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It is all very well, in these changing times, to adapt one's work to take in duties not traditionally within one's realm […]. One need hardly dwell on the catastrophic possibility of uttering a bantering remark only to discover it wholly inappropriate. (1.30)
Stevens struggles with the relative informality that his new American employer demands of him.
Quote #2
And let me now posit that "dignity" has to do crucially with a butler's ability not to abandon the professional being he inhabits. (2.55)
Many of Stevens's musings on what makes for a "great" butler center on this term: "dignity." Whatever dignity is, a great butler always has it; he is as dignified in his personal life as he is in his professional one.
Quote #3
I set about preparing for the days ahead as, I imagine, a general might prepare for a battle. I devised with utmost care a special staff plan anticipating all sorts of eventualities […]. I even gave the staff a military-style "pep-talk." (3.192)
Stevens takes great pleasure in his professionalism, going so far as to compare it to going into battle. The battle metaphor also suggests a parallel between Stevens's professionalism as a butler and the question of professionalism in Lord Darlington's diplomacy.
Quote #4
"[…] You here in Europe need professionals to run your affairs. If you don't realize that soon you're headed for disaster. A toast, gentlemen. Let me make a toast. To professionalism." (3.348)
The American senator Mr. Lewis scoffs at his European counterparts, who are still working from an older, more traditional model where gentlemen made treaties based on gentlemanly understandings. The modern world, he argues, requires "professional" diplomats, not gentleman amateurs.
Quote #5
"[…] What you describe as "amateurism," sir, is what I think most of us here still prefer to call "honour" […]. I believe I have a good idea of what you mean by "professionalism." It appears to mean getting one's way by cheating and manipulating. It appears to mean serving the dictates of greed and advantage rather than those of goodness and the desire to see justice prevail in the world." (3.352)
Lord Darlington defends his so-called amateurism against the American senator's criticism by insisting on the moral superiority of values such as honor, goodness, and justice.
Quote #6
It would seem there is a whole dimension to the question "what is a "great" butler?" I have not hitherto not properly considered […]. It may well be true to say it is a prerequisite of greatness that one "be attached to a distinguished household"—so long as one takes "distinguished" here to have a meaning deeper than that understood by the Hayes Society. (4.1)
The Hayes Society was an exclusive club of self-described "great butlers." Their definition of "great" or "distinguished" was based on class: being born noble or aristocratic, or working for someone who was. Stevens proposes a different definition: being morally superior.
Quote #7
The question was not simply one of how well one practiced one's skills, but to what end one did so […]. As professionals, the surest means of doing so would be to serve the great gentlemen of our times in whose hands civilization had been entrusted. (4.5)
Stevens here suggests that great butlers serve "great gentlemen"—specifically, gentlemen who seek to better civilization.
Quote #8
A butler of any quality must be seen to inhabit his role, utterly and fully; he cannot be seen casting it aside one moment simply to don it again the next as though it were nothing more than a pantomime costume. (6.127)
Stevens takes his job so seriously that even in his "off" time, hanging out alone in his butler's pantry, he still maintains his butler-ness.
Quote #9
"First came here in 'forty-nine. Socialism would allow people to live with dignity." (7.24)
Just in case you didn't get the fact that "dignity" in the novel is not just about greatness in butlers but also in human beings in general, Dr. Carlisle's offhand comment here makes the link clear. Ordinary people, not just gentlemen, deserve dignity, although Dr. Carlisle is skeptical about whether socialism is the way to do it.
Quote #10
"But I suspect it comes down to not removing one's clothing in public." (7.27)
After spending over six chapters (three-quarters of the novel) reflecting on the concept of dignity, Stevens can only manage this definition of dignity… which seems pretty easy to fulfill unless you're a chronic exhibitionist. But what Stevens means here is that the persona you put on in public should correspond to who you really are when you're alone.