- Mrs. Astor: Well, the audience at the new opera house will be easy to meet. But you'll find that they are hard to get rid of.
- Gladys Russell: Honestly, Mother, you say I'm not to speak to men you don't approve of, but you don't approve of anyone.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: We'll all go, and Marian can meet some more suitable young people.
- Marian Brook: Although I'm never sure that your definition of suitable is quite the same as mine.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: If it isn't, it should be.
- Oscar Van Rhijn: I suppose she's now the cynosure of all eyes.
- Marian Brook: Of course. She's pretty. She's rich. She's out in society. And this is New York.
- Jack Trotter: So you and Mrs. Bauer would have been on opposite sides of the war of 1866?
- Mrs. Bauer: Yes, I'm from Hanover, which fought with Austria. And Miss Weber is from Berlin, the capital of Prussia.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Why should I stop now?
- Ada Brook: Because we're getting older.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: You may be getting older. I am not.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: All I hope is that next time, you will listen to us and not assume we know nothing.
- Marian Brook: I shall be more sensible, if there is a next time.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: That's all we ask, isn't it, Ada? Some respect for our advice.
- Mrs. Bruce: Mr. Borden pretended to be French to get a job. Is that a crime?
- Church: Not a crime, but quite a good joke.
- Reverend Matthew Forte: They've told me all about you.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: You mustn't believe everything you hear.
- John Adams: I have no desire to lock who I am in a box and throw away the key. I don't think I could anyway.
- George Russell: I wish I could understand the whole thing. You don't even like opera. Not so I've ever noticed.
- Bertha Russell: George, the opera is where society puts itself on display. Not just in New York, but all over Europe. And the leaders take boxes where they meet each other and their children court each other, and that is how the wheels of society turn.
- Agnes Van Rhijn: Is it cruel to mind it when you stamp on our name and drag it in the mud? Now, get out of my way!
- Mr. Gilbert: I was hoping your presence here was a sign you were open to argument.
- Mrs. Astor: I am open to fetching my coat.
- Mrs. Astor: I should scold you, Mrs. Fish, but I know that you're just playing with matches, as you like to do.
- Baudin (aka Borden): I am such a fool to have agreed to a soufflé. We'll have to keep making new batches at ten-minute intervals, then only serve them as they're wanted and throw the rest away.