William Boldwood: I want... very much to protect you. For the rest of your life.
William Boldwood: You must at least admire my persistence.
Bathsheba Everdene: I do.
William Boldwood: And like me?
Bathsheba Everdene: Yes.
William Boldwood: And respect me?
Bathsheba Everdene: Yes. Very much.
William Boldwood: Which is it? Like or respect?
Bathsheba Everdene: From now on, you have a mistress, not a master. I don't yet know my talents in farming, but I shall do my best. Don't suppose, because I'm a woman, I don't know the difference between bad goings-on and good. I shall be up before you're awake. I shall be a-field before you are up. It is my intention to astonish you all. Back to work, please.
Gabriel Oak: Leading on a man you do not care for is beneath you.
Gabriel Oak: I'm not going to tell stories just to please you. You can be sure of that.
Sergeant Troy: You've never seen you through a man's eyes. It's like not being able to think.
Bathsheba Everdene: Mr Oak, I don't want a husband. I'd hate to be some man's property. I shouldn't mind being a bride at a wedding if I could be one without getting a husband.
Sergeant Troy: This woman, dead as she is, is more to me than you ever were, or are, or can be. You are nothing to me now. Nothing.
