The Butler * Quotes

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."

Louis Gaines: "Something special is going on down here, Dad."
Cecil Gaines: "What's so special about another colored man in jail?"

"America has always turned a blind eye to what we done to our own. We look out to the world and judge. We hear about the concentration camps but these camps went on for two hundred years right here in America."

Freddie Fallows: "Are you political, Mr. Gaines?"
Cecil Gaines: "No, sir."
Freddie Fallows: "Good. We have no tolerance for politics at the White House."

"Young brother, the black domestic defy racial stereotypes by being hardworking and trustworthy. He slowly tears down racial hatred with his example of a strong work ethic and dignified character. Now, while we perceive the butler or the maid to be subservient, in many ways they are subversive, without even knowing it."

"Everything you are and everything you have, is because of that butler."

"Vietnam took my boy, and I didn't understand why we were there in the first place."