The Maid Quotes
"I’m so thankful for my job that I pinch myself every day. I really do."
"Your bed is made perfectly, as though no one had ever lain there."
"But at work, when I’m wearing my uniform, I blend in. I become part of the hotel’s décor."
"Every day, when I arrive to work at the Regency Grand, I feel alive again, part of the fabric of things."
"Gran used to say, 'If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.' And she’s right."
"A well-stocked housekeeping trolley is a portable sanitation miracle; it is a clean machine on wheels."
"I make etiquette mistakes with alarming regularity, offend when I mean to compliment, misread body language, say the wrong thing at the wrong time."
"The truth is, I often have trouble with social situations."
"When you assume, you make an A-S-S out of U and ME."
"I’m careful not to splash any water onto my bed skirts and definitely not on the lone-star quilt that Gran made for me years ago, faded now from use and wear, but nonetheless a treasure."
"Out, damn spot," I say aloud, and eventually it fades before my eyes, revealing the gleam of parquet beneath.
"Gran worked hard and cared for me well. She taught me things. She hugged me and fussed over me and made life worth living."
"The devil makes work for idle hands. And besides, one day it will just be you, and the Fabergé will see you through when that day comes."
"You’re not a freak. You’re just an old soul. And that’s something to be proud of."
"It’s funny the way memories bubble up whenever I clean."
"One day, Gran asked me to invite Wilbur round to the apartment, and so I did. If Gran was disappointed by him, she certainly hid it well."
"The more I worked at the Regency Grand, the more I put into the Fabergé."
"We were late on the rent, which was another thing I didn’t mention."
"The police think I killed my own husband," she says. "For what it’s worth, I know you didn’t."
"You’re not a freak. Or a robot. And I’ll never forget this as long as I live. You’ll see. I swear, I won’t forget."
"If you’re going to do something, do it right."
"Good things come to those who work hard. Clean conscience, clean life."
"The good lord gives and the good lord takes away."
"The truth is subjective. But I’ve never quite believed that. I believe the truth is absolute."
"I feel my jitters return. I clasp my hands tightly in my lap to quell my trembling."
"We won't judge you on the basis of your teapots, Ms. Gray, but on your propensity to obey the rules and to stay put."
"I've devoted my entire life to just that, even when the rules are entirely unsuited to my constitution."
"It's always like this at dusk—as if the day is throwing the last of its energy up the steps while the hotel itself patiently waits for the calm of night to come."
"People are a mystery that can never be solved."
"When you believe in yourself, nothing can stop you."
"Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end."
"Sometimes, you must do one thing bad to do another thing good. It’s not always so clear, so black and white like everyone thinks."
"To live is to learn. Maybe next time you’ll avoid assumptions."
"Justice is like truth—it, too, is subjective."
"We don’t have much time. Do you know who I am?"
"If all of this has taught me anything, it is this: there’s a power in me I never knew was there."