Memoirs of a Geisha quotes

View Quote Why can't you be quiet?

View Quote I can just hear my General now. "Why Hatsumomo. You used to smell of jasmine... What's this new perfume...? Blowfish?"

View Quote The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves... Until one day there are none. No hopes. Nothing remains.

View Quote [other men laugh]
Mameha: Don't tease, Baron. It is her very first time. Mameha: Now that your beloved Granny is gone, you have no need for a maid.

View Quote You cannot call yourself a true geisha until you can stop a man in his tracks with a single look.

View Quote We don't become geisha to pursue our own destinies. We become geisha because we have no choice.

View Quote Remember Chiyo, geisha are not courtesans, and we're not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word "geisha" means artist, and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art.

View Quote Why Sayuri...look what I found. You've been hiding your love for a long time... The sacrifice every geisha must make!

View Quote To a man, Geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet to learn of kindness, after so much unkindness... To understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find that her prayers were answered...can that not be called happiness? After all, these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen...these are memoirs of another kind.

View Quote Hurry up! [chuckling] You're not making money standing there gawking at yourself!

View Quote I could be her. Were we so different? She loved once. She hoped once. I could be her. I might be looking into my own future. Until the real future came falling from the air... [referring to the war]

View Quote I humbly beg to differ. What is sumo but a dance between giants? What is business but a dance between companies? I would like to know about every kind of dance.

View Quote Mother: I would never question the great Mameha. But...you could choose anyone in the hanamachi!
Mameha [laughing]: You flatter me.
Mother: I'd give you my Pumpkin, if she were not already tied to Hatsumomo.
Mameha: Please, I'd never dream of asking.
Mother: Besides, I could always sell Chiyo to Mrs. Tatsuyo...
Mameha: With your eye for beauty and nose for talent, surely you can see what a terrible waste that would be?
Mother: If you were not the kind-hearted geisha I know you to be, then I might think you were scheming against Hatsumomo!
Mameha: Then I'm grateful that you don't have a suspicious mind, Mrs. Nitta.
Mother: Perhaps you could pique my interest with...
Mameha: Yes?
Mother: Your offer.
Mameha [pauses]: I will cover Chiyo's schooling, and all of her expenses, until after her debut.
Mother: Now I am certain, you are teasing.
Mameha: I could not be more sincere. If Chiyo has not repaid her debt within six months after her debut --
Mother: Impossible! Too little time!
Mameha: Then I will pay you twice over.
Mother: What...? [pause] Why...no geisha could ever...!
Mameha: I am sure you will not object to one trivial condition?
Mother: Yes?
Mameha: If Chiyo erases her debt in the time allowed...you will have no part in her future earnings. Mother: It's too good to be true. Mameha is up to something.

View Quote I owe Nobu my life. So, when I saw he had a chance at happiness with you, I stood aside and... But I cannot any longer. I hope it is not too late.

View Quote No man would ever bid so much for a thing he had already taken.