- Mrs. Brown: That'll be a dispute to the end of time, Mr. Brown: whether it's better to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason.
- [Mrs. Brown is talking with Velvet in the attic]
- Mrs. Brown: We're alike. I, too, believe that everyone should have a chance at a breathtaking piece of folly once in his life. I was twenty when they said a woman couldn't swim the Channel. You're twelve; you think a horse of yours can win the Grand National. Your dream has come early; but remember, Velvet, it will have to last you all the rest of your life.
- Donald Brown: I was sick all night!
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Donald, you told a story, didn't you?
- Donald Brown: Yes, sir, it was a story.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Well, you know what to do.
- Donald Brown: What?
- Mr. Herbert Brown: You say you're sorry.
- [Donald puts his head on his hand]
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Well?
- Mrs. Brown: He's thinking.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: [to Donald] Well, make up your mind.
- Donald Brown: Alright, I'm sorry.
- [continues eating his dinner]
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Well, go on. Sorry for what?
- Donald Brown: For being sick all night!
- Mr. Herbert Brown: That boy will make a lawyer.
- Mi Taylor: Some day you'll learn that greatness is only the seizing of opportunity - clutching with your bare hands 'til the knuckles show white.
- Mr. Hallam: So you're to win the gelding, are you Velvet?
- Velvet: Oh, of course I'm to win.
- Mr. Hallam: There are ways of arranging it, aren't there? And your father's a clever man...
- Velvet: Oh, I didn't bother him, Mr. Hallam. I just arranged it with God.
- Edwina Brown: I'm so angry I could shake you!
- Malvolia "Mally" Brown: I only wanted to explain about the polish...
- Edwina Brown: ...so you told Miss Sims I was meeting a *boy*! It's a wonder you didn't tell her who and where!
- Malvolia "Mally" Brown: I didn't know where!
- Velvet Brown: I want it all quickly 'cause I don't want God to stop and think and wonder if I'm getting more than my share.
- Donald Brown: I was sick all night!
- Malvolia "Mally" Brown: That's a lie, Donald. You weren't sick.
- Donald Brown: I could've been sick if I wanted to.
- Velvet: He's beautiful, Mr. Ede. What's his name?
- Farmer Ede: Name? He's a murderous pirate, not deserving of a name.
- Velvet: Oh no, not pirate. He's a gentle one. I'll just call him Pi.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: [Velvet is pretending she's riding The Pi] Who's this Pi? A new one?
- Velvet Brown: Oh, Father, you should see him, he's beautiful. He never puts a foot wrong.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Who?
- Velvet Brown: Mr. Ede's new horse. I'm in love with him.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: You're a fickle woman. I've heard you say that about other horses.
- Mrs. Brown: Win or lose, it's all the same. It's how you take it that counts, and knowing when to let go; knowing when it's over and time to go on to the next thing.
- Velvet Brown: The next thing?
- Mrs. Brown: Things come suitable to the time, Velvet. Enjoy each thing, then forget it and go on to the next. There's a time for everything. There's a time for having a horse in the Grand National, being in love, having children; yes, even for dying. All in proper order at the proper time.
- Velvet Brown: Who's been in my box?
- Donald Brown: Me.
- Edwina Brown: [correcting him] "I."
- Donald Brown: You, too?
- [Mi is trying to tell Velvet the "tricks" for the Grand National]
- Velvet Brown: Don't, Mi! No matter what you say or do everyone else out there will know more than me. It's no use, Mi.
- Mi Taylor: Do think a race like this is won by luck?
- Velvet Brown: No, by knowing the Pi can win and telling him so!
- Mr. Herbert Brown: It's one thing to out-think a man, quite another to outsmart him.
- Mrs. Brown: And who will say which is which?
- Mr. Herbert Brown: Donald, go back to bed.
- Donald Brown: I'll only fall asleep.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: That is the general purport and intention.
- Mr. Herbert Brown: [Sees Edwina polishing Donald's toenails] What sort of savagery is this?
- Donald Brown: Paint!
- Edwina Brown: Only in fun, Father. We thought it would look pretty.
- Donald Brown: I don't like it!
- Mr. Herbert Brown: The child doesn't like it. Wipe it off.
- Donald Brown: I don't mind it.