I beg permission to mention by name only four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation, and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville. Had the beautiful Miss Reville not accepted a lifetime contract without options as Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock some 53 years ago, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock might be in this room tonight, not at this table but as one of the slower waiters on the floor.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I beg permission to mention by name only four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation, and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville. Had the beautiful Miss Reville not accepted a lifetime contract without options as Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock some 53 years ago, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock might be in this room tonight, not at this table but as one of the slower waiters on the floor." in the context of "Speaking on March 11, 1979, accepting AFI's Life Achievement Award; as paraphrased in "A Big Hollywood Turnout for Alfred Hitchcock; "Hollywood Salute to Alfred Hitchcock" by Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times (March 12, 1979); quoted in Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man (2003) by Pat Hitchcock, pp. 220–221; and heard in "Alfred Hitchcock Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979", YouTube (April 16, 2009)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.