Chariots of Fire (1981)

Lindsay Anderson: Master of Caius

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Quotes 

• Master of Caius : I take the war list, and I run down it. Name after name which I cannot read, and which we - who are older than you - cannot hear without emotion. Names which will be only names to you, the new college, but which to us summon up face after face, full of honesty and goodness, zeal and vigor, and intellectual promise. The flower of a generation, the glory of England - and they died for England, and all that England stands for. And now, by tragic necessity, their dreams have become yours. Let me exhort you: Examine yourselves. Let each of you discover where your true chance of greatness lies. For their sakes - for the sake of your college, and your country - seize this chance. Rejoice in it, and let no power or persuasion deter you in your task.

• Master of Trinity : This Abrahams. What do you know about him?

  Master of Caius : Repton chap. Jewish. His father's a financier in the city.

  Master of Trinity : Financier. What's that supposed to mean, I wonder?

  Master of Caius : I imagine he lends money.

  Master of Trinity : Exactly. And what do they say about the son?

  Master of Caius : Academically sound. Arrogant. Defensive to the point of pugnacity.

  Master of Trinity : As they invariably are.

  Master of Caius : Yet possessing a keen sense of duty and loyalty.

  Master of Trinity : Do they say he can run?

  Master of Caius : Like the wind.

• Master of Caius : It's said that you use a personal coach.

  Harold M. Abrahams : Mr. Mussabini, yes.

  Master of Trinity : Is he an Italian?

  Harold M. Abrahams : Of Italian extraction, yes.

  Master of Trinity : I see.

  Harold M. Abrahams : But not all Italian.

  Master of Trinity : I'm relieved to hear it.

  Harold M. Abrahams : He's half Arab.

• Master of Trinity : For the past year, you've concentrated wholly on developing your own technique in the headlong pursuit, may I suggest, of individual glory. Not a policy very conducive to the fostering of esprit de corps.

  Harold M. Abrahams : I am a Cambridge man, first and last. I am an Englishman, first and last. What I have achieved - what I intend to achieve - is for my family, my university, and my country. And I bitterly resent your suggesting otherwise.

  Master of Caius : Your aim is to win at all costs, is it not?

  Harold M. Abrahams : At all costs, no. But I do aim to win within the rules.