The Emperor's Club

"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."

"According to Heraclitus, we cannot step into the same river twice. To put it another way, an opportunity lost stays lost forever. While I agree with the spirit of that saying, I have found that the world does allow for some second chances. When Elizabeth's marriage had ended and she returned from England, the waters were still as swimmingly lovely as when we first met. But if time made concessions for love, it made none for death. And when the school's beloved headmaster, Terrence Woodbridge, passed away, I found a sense of profound sorrow. Although the Sedgewick Bell affair tested our friendship, he had been, for a half a century, the academic and moral compass of our school. A role, that was now mine to fulfill."

"The worth of a life is not determined by a single failure or a solitary success."

"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."

"Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?"

"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 Deepak Mehta: A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives."

"Kevin Kline - William Hundert"

"Emile Hirsch - Sedgewick Bell"

"Embeth Davidtz - Elizabeth"

"Rob Morrow - James Ellerby"

"Edward Herrmann - Headmaster Woodbridge"

"Harris Yulin - Senator Hiram Bell"

"Paul Dano - Martin Blythe"

"Jesse Eisenberg - Louis Masoudi"

"Rishi Mehta - Deepak Mehta"

"Caitlin O'Heaney - Mrs. Woodbridge"