A Night to Remember1958

Col. Archibald Gracie:
[looks at rockets being fired by the Carpathia as he and Lightoller sit in the stern of a lifeboat] Will that be the Carpathia?

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
[silently nods in the affirmative]

Col. Archibald Gracie:
Aren't you glad to see her?

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
Yes I'm glad. But then, *I'm* still *alive*.

Col. Archibald Gracie:
If only she'd been nearer.

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
There are quite a lot of "ifs" about it; aren't there, Colonel?

[turns and shouts to another lifeboat they're towing]

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
Keep up, quartermaster. Keep that line slack.

[turns to address Colonel Gracie again]

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
If we'd been steaming a few knots slower, or if we'd sighted that berg a few seconds earlier, we might not even have struck. If we'd been carrying enough lifeboats for the size of the ship instead of just enough to meet the regulations, things would have been different again, wouldn't they?

Col. Archibald Gracie:
Maybe. But *you* have nothing to reproach yourself with. You've done all any man could and more. You're not...

[stops himself]

Col. Archibald Gracie:
I was about to say, you're not *God*, Mister Lightoller.

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
*No* seaman ever thinks he is! I've been at sea since I was a *boy*. I've been in sail. I've even been *shipwrecked* before. I *know* what the sea can *do*! But, *this* is different-!

Col. Archibald Gracie:
Because we hit an iceberg?

Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller:
No- Because we were so *sure*! Because even though it's *happened*, it's *still* unbelieveable! I don't think *I'll* ever feel *sure* again, about *anything*!