Wisdom from the Dowager Countess

As the world mourns the death of Dame Maggie Smith, the director of the Cathedral's Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage collected some of her pearls of wisdom.

With gratitude to CCPP Director Terri Lynn Simpson, here is the accumulated (and slightly rearranged) wisdom of the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, Smith’s sharp-tonged but beloved character on PBS’ “Downton Abbey.”

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.
Life is a game in which the player
must appear ridiculous.
You see, sometimes we must let
the blow fall by degrees.
War makes early risers of us all.
Life is a game in which
the player must appear ridiculous.
Have we all stepped through the looking glass?
War makes early risers of us all.
A change is as good as a rest.
Have we all stepped through the looking glass?
The truth is neither here nor there,
it’s the look of the thing that matters.
A change is as good as a rest.
One way or another, everyone goes down
the aisle with half the story hidden.
The truth is neither here nor there,
it’s the look of the thing that matters.
I hope we’re in control of something,
if only ourselves.
One way or another, everyone
goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.
There’s nothing more to be said.

(Words by The Dowager Countess Grantham, arrangement by Terri Lynn Simpson)