Maggie Smith On 'Downton Abbey': 10 Life Lessons From The Dowager Countess

Dame Maggie Smith is not leaving "Downton Abbey," the show's producers announced yesterday. Everyone breathe.

Although rumors were flying surrounding the Dowager Countess’ supposed exit from the smash-hit period drama, Carnival Film and Television Limited told the Los Angeles Times that "there is no truth in the story that Maggie is leaving the show."

To celebrate the fact that TV’s most astute, delightfully blunt matriarch is not meeting her demise, we decided to reflect on what she's taught us thus far.

The Dowager Countess never let's us forget that she knows best, which is of course one of the reasons we love her. Here are some of her best one-liners on love, marriage and appropriate houseguest comportment -- and the important life lessons we gleaned from them.

LOOK: 10 Life Lessons From The Dowager Countess

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• Be Creative Yet Realistic About Conflict Resolution

  "We can't have him assassinated...I suppose."

• When Hoping To Appear Blue Blood, Smile

  "Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class."

• Every Marriage Involves A Little Deceit

  "I mean one way or another, everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden."

• Be A Good Guest

  "No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house -- especially somebody they didn't even know."

• It's The Little Things

  <strong>Lady Sybil Crawley:</strong> "No one ever learned anything from a governess except for French, and how to curtsy." <strong>Dowager Countess:</strong> "What more do you need?"

• Finding Love Is Easier Than You Think

  "Well if she doesn't, we'll just have to take her abroad. In these moments you can normally find an Italian who isn't too picky."

• Money Helps

  "No fortune? He's lucky not to be playing the violin in Leicester Square."

• Don't Take Your Weekends For Granted

  They didn't used to exist, as the Dowager Countess revealed when she demanded to know, "What is a 'weekend'?"

• Friendship Isn't Everything

  <strong>Cora, Countess Of Grantham: </strong>"Are we to be friends then?" <strong>Dowager Countess:</strong> "We are allies, which can be a good deal more effective."

• LBD's Are Overrated

  "No one wants to kiss a girl in black."

Comments

[Sarazzara]

11:21 AM on 05/04/2012

"What's a weekend?"

Hahahaha!

And delivered to perfection. Just the right blend of bewilderment and dismay.

[briceverdi]

06:02 AM on 04/27/2012

Maggie Smith is superbly wonderful and she makes her roles totally memorable. If you miss Downton Abbey catch it on PBS.org when the series plays again. You can watch it at all times of day. All Masterpiece shows are available and shown there for a few weeks after they air on PBS.Developing manners and actually talking to strangers is a lost art in this modern age. People end up being wallflowers and they never get to join in the dance.

[viciousvirago]

11:58 PM on 04/21/2012

My favorite has to be 'money helps'. DUH!!!!!! Ask me, I would know. I went from making $l million per year to next to nothing because I'm now disabled. Long gone are the friends I thought were friends. Now I know who my true friends are.

The other is 'be a good guest'. It's apparent that a lot of our citizens have no idea how to properly behave in public spectacles, such as large parties, the inaugural parties, cocktail fetes, etc. Most Americans have lost, or never had, their manners in the first place.

Can we please teach the basics of good sportsmanship, good citizenship and good manners in school again? I miss being around cultured, well-bred people. All my neighbors are upper middle-class but when invited to my house for a pool party, they come already attired in a bathing suit. One woman, AGED 49, wore a THONG. Ugh, ugly as sin and cellulite city.

If I sound elitest, I am not. I was just raised in a proper environment with manners taught to me by my mother, nanny and my alma mater, the Maderia School in Virginia. And you do NOT have to have money to have class. Just look at Donald Trump. How embarrassing.

[MIvoter1231]

09:57 AM on 04/20/2012

I've always adored Maggie Smith. I've missed the show (work too much), but I can truly hear her in my head delivering these lines. She's one of a kind.

[parisnoire]

09:09 AM on 04/19/2012

Love me some Dowager Countess. Love me some Maggie Smith even more!!!

[maluna]

11:19 PM on 04/18/2012

Why must EVERY DAY involve a fight with an American?

[Lilo623]

05:24 PM on 04/18/2012

I'm glad she is winning her war with breast cancer. She is such a talented actress - by far the best on Downton Abbey.

[PC Contrarian]

01:47 PM on 04/18/2012

"No woman should have opinions until she is married. . . then her husband can tell her what they are."