“Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day.” – Kazuo Ishiguro – The Remains of the Day
Context of the Quote in The Remains of the Day
The quote—“Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day”—appears toward the novel’s conclusion, spoken by the protagonist, Stevens, a stoic English butler reflecting on his life during a road trip across 1950s England.2,3 It captures Stevens grappling with regret over suppressed emotions, unrequited love for housekeeper Miss Kenton, and blind loyalty to his former employer, Lord Darlington, whose pro-appeasement stance toward Nazi Germany tainted his legacy. The “advice” comes from a genial stranger at a pier, who urges Stevens to enjoy life’s “evening” after a day’s work, echoing the novel’s titular metaphor of time slipping away like a fading day.2,3,4 This moment marks Stevens’s tentative shift from rigid self-denial toward acceptance, though his ingrained dignity—defined as unflinching duty—prevents full emotional release.1,2
Backstory on Kazuo Ishiguro and the Novel
Kazuo Ishiguro, born in 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan, moved to England at age five, shaping his themes of memory, displacement, and unspoken regret. A Nobel Prize winner in Literature (2017), he crafts subtle narratives blending historical realism with psychological depth, as in The Remains of the Day (1989), his third novel and Booker Prize victor.2 Inspired by unreliable narrators like those in Ford Madox Ford’s works, Ishiguro drew from real English butlers’ memoirs and interwar politics, critiquing class-bound repression without overt judgment. The Booker-winning story follows Stevens’s six-day drive to reunite with Miss Kenton, framed as his self-justifying memoir, exposing how duty stifles personal fulfillment amid 1930s fascism’s rise.1,2,4 Adapted into a 1993 Oscar-nominated film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, it remains Ishiguro’s most acclaimed work, probing what dignity is there in that?—a line underscoring Stevens’s crisis.2
Leading Theorists on Regret, Positive Outlook, and the “Remains of the Day”
The quote’s pivot from backward-glancing remorse to forward optimism ties into psychological and philosophical theories on regret minimization and temporal orientation. Key figures include:
- Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Prospect Theory pioneers, Nobel in Economics 2002): Their work shows regret stems from inaction (e.g., Stevens’s unlived life with Miss Kenton), amplified by hindsight bias—recognizing “turning points” only retrospectively, as Stevens laments: What can we ever gain in forever looking back?2 They advocate shifting focus to future gains for emotional resilience.
- Daniel Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness, 2006): Gilbert’s research reveals humans overestimate past regrets while underestimating future adaptation; he posits adopting a “positive outlook” via affective forecasting—imagining better “remains” ahead—mirrors the stranger’s counsel to “put your feet up and enjoy it.”2,3 Stevens embodies Gilbert’s “impact bias,” where unaddressed regrets loom larger in memory.
- Martin Seligman (Positive Psychology founder): Seligman’s learned optimism counters Stevens’s pessimism, urging reframing via gratitude: You must realize one has as good as most… and be grateful.1 His PERMA model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) critiques duty-bound lives, aligning with Stevens’s late epiphany to “make the best of what remains.”
- Viktor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning, 1946): A Holocaust survivor, Frankl’s logotherapy emphasizes finding meaning in suffering; Stevens’s arc echoes Frankl’s call to transcend regret through present purpose, rejecting endless rumination: There is little choice other than to leave our fate… in the hands of those great gentlemen.2
- Epictetus and Stoic Philosophers: Ancient roots in Stevens’s dignity ideal; Epictetus advised focusing on controllables (one’s outlook) over uncontrollables (past choices), prefiguring the quote’s resolve amid life’s “evening.”1,2
These theorists illuminate the novel’s insight: regret poisons the “remains,” but a deliberate positive turn fosters redemption, blending empirical psychology with timeless wisdom.1,2,3
References
1. https://www.bookey.app/book/the-remains-of-the-day/quote
2. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3333111-the-remains-of-the-day
3. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3333111-the-remains-of-the-day?page=6
4. https://www.siquanong.com/book-summaries/the-remains-of-the-day/
5. https://bookroo.com/quotes/the-remains-of-the-day
6. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/remains/quotes/page/2/
7. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Remains-of-the-Day/quotes/
8. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-remains-of-the-day/quotes
9. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/the-remains-of-the-day/quotes
10. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/remains/quotes/
