Live from Lincoln Center (TV Series)

New York City Opera: A Little Night Music (1990)

Regina Resnik: Madame Armfeldt

Quotes 

• Fredrika Arnfeldt : [watching her grandmother play solitaire]  If you cheated a little, it would come out.

  Madame Arnfeldt : Solitaire is the only thing in life that demands absolute honesty.

• Madame Arnfeldt : Don't squeeze your bosoms against the chair, dear! It'll stunt their growth, and then where would you be?

• Madame Arnfeldt : Child, I have come to give you your advice for the day.

  Fredrika Arnfeldt : Yes, Grandmother?

  Madame Arnfeldt : Never marry, or even dally with, a Scandinavian.

  Fredrika Arnfeldt : Why not?

  Madame Arnfeldt : They are all insane.

• Desiree Armfeldt : Hello, mother.

  Madame Arnfeldt : And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?

  Desiree Armfeldt : I just thought I'd pop out and see you both. Is that so surprising?

  Madame Arnfeldt : Yes.

  Desiree Armfeldt : You're in one of your bitchy moods, I see.

  Madame Arnfeldt : If you've come to take Fredrika back, the answer is no. I do not object to the immorality of your life; merely to its sloppiness. Since I have been tidy enough to have acquired a sizeable mansion and a fleet of servants, it seems only common sense that my granddaughter should reap the advantages of it. Isn't that so, child?

  Fredrika Arnfeldt : I really don't know, Grandmother.

  Madame Arnfeldt : Oh, yes, you do, dear.

• Madame Arnfeldt : To lose a husband, or a lover or two, during one's lifetime can be vexing - but to lose one's teeth is a catastrophe!

• Madame Arnfeldt : Are you addressing me, sir - whoever you may be?

  Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm : I am, madam.

  Madame Arnfeldt : Then be so kind as to repeat yourself. Judging from the level of the conversation so far, you can hardly expect me to have been paying attention.

• Madame Arnfeldt : Child, will you do me a favor?

  Fredrika Arnfelt : Of course, Grandmother.

  Madame Arnfeldt : Will you tell me what it's all for? Having outlived my own illusions by centuries, it would be soothing at least to pretend to share some of yours.

• Fredrika Arnfeldt : Grandmother, I've watched and I've watched, and I haven't noticed the night smiling.

  Madame Arnfeldt : Young eyes are not ideal for watching; they stray too much. The night has already smiled twice.

  Fredrika Arnfeldt : It has? Twice? For the young and for the fools?

  Madame Arnfeldt : The smile for the fools was particularly broad tonight.