The Quiet American

Thomas Fowler:
If I lost her, for me, it would be the beginning of death.

Hinh:
Sooner or later, Mr. Fowler, one has to take sides, if one is to remain human.

[first lines]

Thomas Fowler:
[narrating] I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam.That a woman's voice can drug you? That everything is so intense? The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London.

Thomas Fowler:
They say whatever you're looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that's the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there's a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.

Thomas Fowler:
I know I am behaving badly, but I have every intention of behaving badly. As a matter of fact, this is exactly the kind of situation where one should behave badly.

[last lines]

Thomas Fowler:
[voiceover] They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in a few minutes. The rest has got to be lived. They say whatever it was you were looking for, you will find here. They say there is a ghost in every house, and if you can make peace with him, he will stay quiet.

Thomas Fowler:
Pyle est mort. Assassinated.

Thomas Fowler:
[to Pyle, who has just saved his life] If I had died, you could have had her.

Thomas Fowler:
Colonel The.

Hinh:
[Correcting him] General The.

Thomas Fowler:
Who made him a General?

Hinh:
He did.

Hinh:
[after Thomas Fowler, in Saigon, receives a letter recalling him back to London] I thought you liked London.

Thomas Fowler:
I do. But I like London fine where it is, I don't want to bloody go there.

Phuong:
Pyle est mort?

Thomas Fowler:
Yes,

Phuong:
Pyle was in love with me.

Alden Pyle:
Have you had a lot of women, Thomas?

Thomas Fowler:
You start out by being promiscuous and end up like your grandfather... faithful to one woman.

Alden Pyle:
I trusted you. Thomas.

Thomas Fowler:
Always a mistake with a woman involved.

Thomas Fowler:
I have never thought of myself as a correspondent, just a reporter. I offer no point of view, I take no action, I don't get involved. I just report what I see.

Alden Pyle:
But you must have an opinion.

Thomas Fowler:
Even an opinion is a form of action.