Now, Voyager Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Charlotte Vale (played by Bette David) in Now, Voyager, directed by Irving Rapper (1942).

Charlotte Vale was depressed and miserable, but after a stay in a sanitarium she recovered. (We'd prefer a stay at a spa, ourselves.) Charlotte even finds a little love along the way… but with a married man. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

She may not have a man, but Charlotte has enough to be happy, as she says in the film's final moments. She and Jerry, the married man, agree to remain in a platonic relationship. He asks her if she'll be happy. They share cigarettes (lung cancer has never been so romantic) and she says, "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars." Sigh.

Where you've heard it

This line is perfect for greeting cards or other sentimental moments when you want to say "be happy with what you have" in the style of a 1940s movie star. It's also the perfect comeback if some guy you're not that into says he wants to bring you the moon. Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This quote demonstrates that some people are able to find happiness without a man in their lives, which isn't pretentious. But it is kinda lofty-sounding and uses unusual sentence structure ("Don't let's ask"? Why not just say "let's not ask," lady?) so it gets a few pretension points.