The Emperor's Club (2002)

Kevin Kline: William Hundert

Photos 

Quotes 

• William Hundert : As a great Aristophanes once wrote-- roughly translated-- "Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown. Ignorance can be educated and drunkenness sobered, but stupid... lasts forever."

• William Hundert : The worth of a life is not determined by a single failure or a solitary success.

• William Hundert : Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?

• William Hundert : However much we stumble, it is a teacher's burden always to hope... that with learning, a boy's character might be changed. And, so, the destiny of a man.

• [first lines] 

  Valet : Is everything okay, sir?

  William Hundert : Fine, thank you. Here.

  [reaches into his pocket] 

  William Hundert : Let me, uh...

  Valet : That's not necessary, sir.

  [walks away] 

  William Hundert : [narrating]  As I've gotten older, I realize I'm certain of only two things. Days that begin with rowing on a lake are better than days that do not. Second, a man's character is his fate. And as a student of history, I find this hard to refute. For most of us our stories can be written long before we die. There are exceptions among the great men of history, but they are rare, and I am not one of them. I am a teacher - simply that. I taught for 34 years. One day I stopped teaching. Those were the facts of my life's chronicle. The last chapter had been written. My book was closed.

• William Hundert : Excuse me.

  Louis Masoudi : Huh? What me?

  William Hundert : Yes, sir. What is your name?

  Louis Masoudi : Uh, Louis.

  William Hundert : Just Louis?

  Louis Masoudi : Louis Masoudi, sir.

  William Hundert : Mr. Masoudi, could you define the word "path" for me?

  Louis Masoudi : Well, there are several definitions, I suppose.

  William Hundert : Would "a route along which someone or something moves" be among them?

  Louis Masoudi : Yeah. Oh, yeah. No. Yeah. I'm s-sorry, sir.

  William Hundert : Follow the path, Mr. Masoudi. Walk where the great men before you have walked.

  Louis Masoudi : Yes, sir. It's, uh - It's better for the grass.

  William Hundert : It's better for you.

• William Hundert : I'm a teacher, Sedgewick. And I failed you - as a teacher. But I will give you one last lecture, if I may. All of us, at some point, are forced to look at ourselves in the mirror, and see who we really are. And when that day comes for you, Sedgewick, you will be confronted with a life lived without virtue, without principle. And for that I pity you. End of lesson.

  Older Sedgewick Bell : Well, can I say, Mr. Hundert, who gives a shit? Honestly. Who out there gives a shit? About your principles and your virtues? I mean, look at you. What do you have to show for yourself? I live in the real world where people do what they need to do to get what they want. And if it's lying and it's cheating, so be it. So I'm gonna go out there and I'm going to win that election, Mr. Hundert. And you'll see me everywhere. And I'll worry about my contributions later.

  [toilet flushes. Sedgwick turns around not realizing someone was in the men's room listening. Robert comes out of the stall and leaves] 

  Older Sedgewick Bell : Robert. Robert.

• William Hundert : Sir, it's my job to mold your son's character, and I think if...

  Senator Bell : Mold him? Jesus God in Heaven, son. You're not gonna mold my boy. Your job is to teach my son. You teach him his times tables. Teach him why the world is round. Teach him who killed who and when and where. That is your job. You, sir, will not mold my son. I will mold him.

• William Hundert : [discussing 41 specific emperors]  Can you, please, name any of the subsequent emperors whom we've been discussing? There were 41.

  Sedgewick Bell : I only know seven.

  William Hundert : Very well.

  Sedgewick Bell : Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey...

  William Hundert : Seriously, though, can you in fact name any of the emperors?

  Sedgewick Bell : I know four.

  William Hundert : Very well.

  Sedgewick Bell : [in an English accent, counting off his fingers]  John, Paul, Ringo

  [counts all but the middle finger] 

  Sedgewick Bell : and George.

• [about Sedgewick's quiz] 

  William Hundert : You passed.

  Sedgewick Bell : It's only a C-minus.

  William Hundert : Well, you know what they say about Rome.

  Sedgewick Bell : It wasn't built in a day?

  William Hundert : No. All roads lead to it.

• William Hundert : [teaching]  And with the monarchy's demise, two new systems of government - the first, ruled by the few, known as? Mr. Brewster.

  Robert Brewster : Uh, tyranny?

  William Hundert : In spirit, perhaps, but etymologically, no. More precisely, oligarchy. Tyranny is what we have in this classroom. It works.

  [laughter] 

• William Hundert : I spoke to your father.

  Sedgewick Bell : I know. We had a real... heart-to-heart.

  William Hundert : This is for you.

  [Hands textbook to Sedgwick] 

  William Hundert : Forgive the condition. It was my textbook in high school. It's quite good. The first chapter has an outline of all the material which we'll be covering this term. I thought it might be helpful in preparing for the Mr. Julius Caesar contest. The first quiz is tomorrow morning. Look at chapter 3 - - "The Foundation of the Republic." Sedgwick, I'm lending you this book because I believe in you. I think you could be at the top of your class if you wanted to be. It's entirely up to you.

• Senator Bell : Let me ask you something. What's the good of what you're teachin' those boys?

  William Hundert : "The good"?

  Senator Bell : Yes. The good.

  William Hundert : Well, Senator, the Greeks and the Romans provided the model of democracy, which, I don't need to tell you, the framers of our own Constitution used as their inspiration. But more to the point, I think when the boys read Plato and Aristotle, Cicero, Julius Caesar even, they're put in direct contact with men who, in their own age, exemplified the highest standards of statesmanship, of civic virtue, of character conviction.

  Senator Bell : [Chuckles]  Boy, that is a horse that can talk! So you're saying that my son Sedgwick has his head up his ass.

• William Hundert : The waters in which we found ourselves swimming, were precisely as lovely as those we had earlier only imagined. But if time had made concessions for love, it made none for death.

• William Hundert : That was quite an interesting performance this afternoon.

  Sedgewick Bell : I knew you saw.

  [pulls out answers under his toga proving he cheated at the Mr. Julius Caesar competition] 

  William Hundert : Why, Sedgewick? You knew the material.

  Sedgewick Bell : Why not?

  [pause] 

  Sedgewick Bell : How come you didn't stand up and call me out?

  William Hundert : It's a complicated matter, Sedgwick.

  Sedgewick Bell : It wasn't because of my father, was it?

  William Hundert : It had nothing to do with your father.

  Sedgewick Bell : Sure, Mr. Hundert. Sure.

• Elizabeth : How is Mr. Julius Caesar going?

  William Hundert : Very - Very well. Even, uh, Sedgwick Bell.

  Elizabeth : Making progress?

  William Hundert : Oh, more than progress. He's-He's come out of the darkness into the light. It's-...

  [They both sit] 

  William Hundert : Cheers.

• William Hundert : What'd you think of Athens?

  Elizabeth : Oh, I loved it.

  William Hundert : I knew you would.

  Elizabeth : Tony hated it. But, you know the British. Too many Greeks.

  William Hundert : Tony's Tony.

  Elizabeth : [hands a small gift to Hundert]  Here. I told the man in the store that I wanted something from a very serious scholar of antiquity.

  William Hundert : [Hundert unwraps the gift that reveals to be a water globe. He laughs]  The Parthenon. It's smaller than I remembered it.

  [Elizabeth laughs] 

• Elizabeth : [about Sedgwick]  He's the son of Hyram Bell. The senior senator from West Virginia.

  William Hundert : Well, whoever the father is, the son is a bit of a Visigoth, I'm afraid.

  Elizabeth : Is he that bad?

  William Hundert : I don't think so. It's just new school bravado. That's all. He'll be fine.

• William Hundert : There's a code at St. Benedicts of self governments based on mutual trust. You violated that trust. And you've compromised the reputation of this academy. If I thought you didn't know any better, that would be one thing. But willful ignorance is intolerable.

  [beat] 

  William Hundert : You're confined to the dormitory until 7 o'clock tomorrow morning.

  Deepak Mehta : What about dinner?

  [Louis laughs] 

  William Hundert : Excuse me?

  Deepak Mehta : Well, I'm hungry, sir.

  [Louis still laughs] 

  William Hundert : Mr. Masoudi.

  Louis Masoudi : Mr. Hundert.

  [beat] 

  William Hundert : Have a good evening, gentlemen.

  [he leaves] 

• William Hundert : Mr. Woodbridge, I think Sedgwick Bell is cheating.

  Headmaster Woodbridge : Let it go.

  William Hundert : What?

  Headmaster Woodbridge : Ignore it.

  William Hundert : Ignore it?

  Headmaster Woodbridge : Ignore it.

• Miss Johnston : Mr. Ellerby has proposed some very exciting fundraising possibilities.

  William Hundert : Miss Johnston, I've been assistant headmaster for 17 years. I fail to see how Mr. Ellerby's qualifications as a fundraiser...

  Miss Johnston : It's not just about fundraising. James Ellerby is a forward-thinking man. He's reached out to the community. He's built relationships to some of the most important alumni. He's a wonderful communicator, with impeccable moral standing and an unwavering commitment to this school. So...

  William Hundert : Then you leave me no choice but to tender my resignation.

  Mr. Castle : I would ask you not. You are a teacher, and the finest one we've ever had.

  William Hundert : Please excuse me.

  Mr. Castle : Please understand, Mr. Hundert, you will be welcome back here at Saint Benedict's anytime. Th-The door will forever be open

• William Hundert : Do you know why you're here?

  Sedgewick Bell : Student of the day.

  William Hundert : [puts pencil down and shows Sedgwick his paperwork]  I gave you a 1 for spelling your name correctly.

  [Sedgwick looks at his work and then puts it back on the desk] 

  William Hundert : Mr. Bell, I don't know what you think you're doing at Saint Benedict's, but this is unacceptable work. You must apply yourself...

  Sedgewick Bell : You're not married, are you, sir?

  William Hundert : No. I am not.

  Sedgewick Bell : That's why you like put us all in togas, right?

  William Hundert : I've made arrangements to meet with your father. Is there anything you'd like for me to say to him?

  Sedgewick Bell : [sitting there for a second thinking until finally]  Tell him I said hello.

  [Gets up from his chair and leaves Hundred's office] 

• William Hundert : [about the waterglobe]  I don't have one of these. Thank you.

  Elizabeth : I found it in the Agora. Tony couldn't understand why I wanted to go there for lunch. It's a little touristy now but I kept hearing your voice in my head and I kept saying it exactly the way you described it with Socrates teaching right in front of me and, there was Tony. Falling asleep from the heat and ouzo and me eating my shishkabob. I thought about you a lot. I wish you were there.

  William Hundert : It would've been a lot, though with you and me and Socrates and your sleeping husband?

  Elizabeth : Yeah. A little.