Tommy Nettle: No one speaks the fucking lingo out here. You can't say 'pass the biscuit' or 'where's me hand grenade?', they just shrug. Cause they hate us too. I mean, that's the point. We fight in France and the French fucking hate us. Make me Home Secretary and I'll sort this out in a fucking minute. We got India and Africa, right? Jerry can have France and Belgium and whatever else they want. Who's fucking ever been to Poland? It's all about room, Empire. They want more empire, give 'em this shithole, we keep ours and it's Bob's your uncle and Fanny's your fucking aunt! Think about it.
Tommy Nettle: ...so I says to him: "you can sit round here twiddling your thumbs, waiting to get your head blown off if you want to, 'm off out of it"...

Paul Marshall:Bite it. You have to bite it.

[Robbie breaks a vase]
Cecelia:You idiot! You realise this is probably the most valuable thing we own.
Robbie:Not any more, it isn't.

Jackson:: When can we go home?
Lola:: Soon.
Pierrot: We can't go home: it's a divorce!
Lola: How dare you say that?
Pierrot: Well, it's true.
[Lola grabs Peirrot by the shoulders and shakes him.]
Lola: You will never ever use that word again. Do you understand?

[Paul Marshall unwraps a brown paper parcel to reveal a shell of khaki sugar which he taps with his fingernail]
Paul Marshall: There'll be one of these provided in every kitbag of every soldier in the British Army. Sugar casing so it won't melt.
Pierrot: Why should they get free sweets?
Paul Marshall: Because they'll be fighting for their country.
Jackson: Our Daddy says there isn't going to be a war.
Paul Marshall: Your Daddy is wrong.

Leon: Guess who we met on the way in?
Cecilia: Robbie.
Leon: I told him to join us tonight.
Cecelia: Leon! You didn't!

Pierrot: It's boring how everything ends in O. Polo and Aero.
Jackson: And Oxo and Brillo.

Cecelia: :[after reading Robbie's letter] I suppose he's what you might call eligible.
Leon: Rather!
Cecelia: He certainly seems to think he's the cat's pyjamas. Which is odd, considering he has pubic hair growing out of his ears.

Cecilia: [crying] I don't know how I could've been so ignorant about myself... so... so stupid. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you? You knew before I did.
'Robbie: Why're you crying?
Cecilia: Don't you know?
Robbie: Yes, I know exactly. [kisses her]

Briony: Lola, can I tell you something? Something really terrible?
Lola: Yes please.
Briony: What's the worst word you can possibly imagine?

Briony: It was Robbie, wasn't it? [Silence] Robbie.
Lola: You saw him.
Briony: Like you said, he's a sex maniac. And you don't even know what happened before dinner. I caught him attacking my sister in the library. I don't know what he'd have done, if I hadn't come in...
Lola: You actually saw him.
Briony: Of course I did. Plain as day.
Lola: He came up behind me. He pushed me to the ground and then he put his hand over my eyes. I couldn't actually, I never actually...
Lola: Briony Listen, 've known him all my life. And I saw him.
Lola: Because I couldn't say for sure.
Briony: Well, I can. And I will.

Cecilia: My brother and I found the two of them down by the lake. Small Text
Police Inspector: You didn't see anyone else?
Cecilia: I wouldn't necessarily believe everything Briony tells you. She's rather fanciful.

Frenchman: Ah, c'est vrai, l'arm?e anglaise se retire. (Subtitled: So it's true, the English are retreating.)
Robbie: On va disparaitre, avant qu'il fait jour. (Subtitled: We'll be gone at first light.)
Frenchman: On s'est battu toutes ces ann?es, tant de gens sont morts. Maintenant les Allemands sont de nouveau en France. (Subtitled: We fought all those years, lost all those dead. Now the Germans are back in France.)
Robbie: On va revenir. On va les chasser. C'est promis. (Subtitled: We'll come back. We'll throw them out. I promise you.)
Frenchman: Bonne chance! (Subtitled: Good luck!)

Robbie: Have you been in touch with your family?
Cecilia: No I told you I wouldn't. Leon waited outside the hospital last week. I just pushed past him.
Robbie: Cee, you don't owe me anything.
Cecilia: Robbie didn't you read my letters? Had I been allowed to visit you? Had they let me, every day, I would have been there every day.
Robbie: Yes but, if all we have rests on a few moments in a library three and a half years ago then I am not sure, I don't know...
Cecilia: Robbie, look at me, come back, come back to me.

Robbie: Come on, pal. You should be getting dressed.
Briony: If I fell in the river, would you save me?
Robbie: Of course.
[Briony jumps into the water and Robbie dives after her; eventually, he pulls her out of the water and drops her near the bank]
Briony: Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Robbie: That was an incredibly bloody stupid thing to do.
Briony: I wanted you to save me.
Robbie: Don't you know how easily you could have drowned?
Briony: You saved me.
Robbie: You stupid child! You could have killed us both! Is that your idea of a joke?
[she looks at him for a moment, shocked by his tone, but defiant nonetheless]
Briony: I want to thank you for saving my life. I'll be eternally grateful to you.
[he strides away angrily, into the woods, leaving Briony disconsolate amidst the cow parsley]

Cecilia: There isn't much time. Robbie has to report for duty at six and he's got a train to catch. So sit down. There are some things you're going to do for us.
[Briony and Cecilia sit in the kitchen. Robbie leans on the table, looming over them]
Robbie: You'll go to your parents as soon as you can and tell them everything they need to know to be convinced that your evidence was false. You'll go and see a solicitor and make a statement and have it signed and witnessed and send copies to us. Is that clear?
Cecilia : Yes.
Robbie: Then you'll write a detailed letter to me, explaining everything that led up to you saying you saw me by the lake.
Cecilia: Try and include whatever you can remember of what Danny Hardman was doing that night.
Briony: Hardman?
Robbie: Yes!
Briony: It wasn't Danny Hardman. It was Leon's friend, Marshall.
[Cecilia and Robbie look at her, astonished]
:Cecilia: I don't believe you.
Briony: He's married Lola; I've just come from their wedding.
[Silence. Finally, Robbie exhales the breath he's been holding, Cecilia looks across at him]
Cecilia: Lola won't be able to testify against him now. He's immune.
[Robbie straightens up and turns away, grappling with a riot of emotions; silence; finally, Briony stands up and speaks, very formal]
Briony: I'm very, very sorry for the terrible distress that I have caused. I'm very, very sorry.
Robbie: Just do as I have asked of you. Write it all down. Just the truth. No rhymes, no embellishments, no adjectives. And then leave us be.
Briony: I will. I promise.

Fiona: It says in the paper the army are making strategic withdrawals.
Briony: I saw that. It's a euphemism for retreat.