This passage is an excerpt from the Prologue. Because the meticulous, formal Stevens is not used to humor of any kind, he finds it extremely unsettling when his new employer, Mr. Farraday makes jokes, as he does not know how to reply in kind. Stevens is far too formal, and far too afraid of offending his employer, to hazard a reply that he has not carefully thought out. At several other points in the novel, while Stevens is on his road trip, he again voices his concerns about bantering, and describes several failed attempts at making funny remarks. This bafflement over the concept of casual banter characterizes Stevens's overall devotion to professionalism at the exclusion of personal or informal concerns.

This quotation is taken from the section titled: "Day One—Evening / Salisbury." When Stevens says that the "greatness" of the landscape stems from its restraint and its lack of demonstrativeness, he is also saying something about himself. He is constantly restrained, hiding his emotions in much the same way that the English landscape does not disclose anything dramatically or loudly. This narrow view on Stevens's part is one that eventually crumbles by the end of the story, when he realizes that his façade of calm has circumscribed his entire existence with indifference.

This passage, from one of Stevens's reminiscences about the past, is presented in the "Day Two—Morning / Salisbury" section. Lord Darlington speaks these words to Stevens in the early 1920s, just after the end of World War I. Darlington is speaking of Herr Bremann, his German friend who was a soldier in World War I. Herr Bremann shoots himself shortly after the evening on which Lord Darlington speaks those words to Stevens. This quotation reveals the nobility of character at the heart of Lord Darlington, and highlights one reason why he is especially vulnerable toward Nazi propaganda: because he feels England has been unfair to Germany in the aftermath of World War I, he continues to give Germany the benefit of the doubt, even when it becomes clear to most others that the Nazi agenda is not one that can be condoned.

This passage, taken from the very end of the "Day Three—Evening / Moscombe, Near Tavistock, Devon" section, demonstrates Stevens's inner doubts about whether or not he has acted nobly, or with dignity, by unquestioningly accepting all of Lord Darlington's decisions. Stevens is trying to justify his actions not only to us, but to himself. If he were to admit that he was not actually serving someone with exemplary moral stature, he would have to admit that he made a mistake in whom he chose to trust and serve for so long and with such diligence. Though Stevens fears he has been mistaken, for solace, he clings to the fact that he did his work well. The entire narrative, in a sense, is a re-examination of his life, and at the end of the story, he admits to feeling both shame and regret.

These words, spoken by Miss Kenton, are taken from the "Day Six—Evening / Weymouth" section of the novel. Miss Kenton, like Stevens, is not content with the decisions she has made in life. She reveals that she did not really come to love her husband until many years after she married him. After she makes the above declaration, Stevens says that his "heart is breaking." It is a tragic moment in the novel, for Stevens fails to tell Miss Kenton that he also had—and continues to have—deep feelings for her. The fact that neither his, nor her regret is ever relieved makes the ending of The Remains of the Day haunting, poignant, and tragic.