Tied for 3rd most-quoted character in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005): in 6 of its 52 quotes
A line from MamehaYou cannot call yourself a true geisha until you can stop a man in his tracks with a single look.
Mameha 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.
Mameha We don't become geisha to pursue our own destinies. We become geisha because we have no choice.
Mameha No man would ever bid so much for a thing he had already taken.
Mameha Water is always in such a hurry. Perhaps it is just as well - we have no time to lose.
"Sayuri"... A name as sweet as she is! I'm afraid these days even a common chambermaid can call herself a geisha. So, it's nice to see such a sincere young maiko, isn't it?
General : Why yes!
Mameha : Surely you would like to thank Hatsumomo for her gracious compliments?
There is so much I would like to say to Hatsumomo.
Sometimes, the smartest remark is silence.
What better advice to follow than your own?
Mameha Sayuri...
Ah, a maiko. I was one myself, once.
Of course... But it's been such a very long, long...long, long...time. [Everyone laughs]
