Agatha Christie

“And yet," said Poirot, "suppose an accident-""Ah, no, my friend-""From your point of view it would be regrettable, I agree. But nevertheless let us just for one moment suppose it. Then, perhaps, all these here are linked together - by death.”

“I am all that there is of the most real.”

“mrs. McGinty’s dead..how did she die?down on one knee..just like Imrs. McGinty’s dead..how did she die?holding her hand out..just like Imrs. McGinty’s dead.. how did she die?sticking her neck out..just like I”

“Poirot said placidly, “One does not, you know, employ merely the muscles. I do not need to bend and measure the footprints and pick up the cigarette ends and examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think. It is this – ” he tapped his egg-shaped head – “this, that functions!”

“Do you believe in the value of truth, my dear, or don’t you?”“Of course I believe in the truth,” said Rhoda, staring.“Yes, you say that, but perhaps you haven’t thought about it. The truth hurts sometimes – and destroys one’s illusions.”“I’d rather have it all the same.” said Rhoda. “So would I. But I don’t know that we’re wise.”

“Excuse me, Monsieur Poirot. If you'd like to ask any questions, I'm sure the doctor wouldn't mind.Of course not. Of course not. Great admirer of yours, Monsieur Poirot. Little gray cells -- order and method. I know all about it.”

“Well,” said Adam, as Poirot went out. “First girls’ knees, and now draughtsmanship! What next, I wonder!”

“Miss Bulstrode had another faculty which demonstrated her superiority over most other women. She could listen.”

“Don't you know, you idiot, that that is what every fool of a woman says about her child?Miss Bulstrode's thoughts.”

“Aprendí que no se puede dar marcha atrás, que la esencia de la vida es ir hacia adelante. La vida, en realidad, es una calle de sentido único.”

“But Aunt Maureen makes smashing omelettes." Julia Upjohn."She makes smashing omelettes." Poirot's voice was happy. He sighed."Then Hercule Poirot has not lived in vain, he said. It was I who taught your Aunt Maureen to make an omelette.”

“The happy people are failures because they are on such good terms with themselves they don't give a damn.”

“إن الأطفال مخلوقات صغيرة غريبة، إذا تعرضوا لخوف رهيب فإنهم لا يتحدثون عنه، و لا سيما إذا كانوا لا يفهمون مصدر رعبهم. إنهم يدفنون خوفهم بين جوارحهم، و ربما بدا أنهم نسوه و لكن ذكراه تبقى هناك في أعماق نفوسهم.”

“The amount of missing girls I've had to trace and their family and their friends always say the same thing. 'She was a bright and affectionate disposition and had no men friends'. That's never true. It's unnatural. Girls ought to have men friends. If not, then there's something wrong about them....”

“When the fact doesn't meet the theory then let go the theory.”

“Evil is not any superhuman, but it is HUMAN.”

“Hi vaig aprendre (suposo que en realitat ho sabia ja) que mai no es pot tornar enrera, que ni tan sols s'ha d'intentar tornar-hi... que l'essència de la vida és anar cap endavant. En realitat, la vida és un camí amb una direcció única, no ho creieu?”

“Everybody always knows something," said Adam, "even if it's something they don't know they know.”

“There is nothing more thrilling in this world, I think, than having a child that is yours, and yet is mysteriously a stranger.”

“Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective.”

“Handsome, strong, gay ... She felt again the thro and lilt of her blood. She had loved Kameni in that moment. She loved him now. Kameni could take the place that Khay had held in her life. She thought: 'We shall be happy together - yes, we shall be happy. We shall live together and take pleasure in each other and we shall have strong, handsome children. There will be busy days full of work ... and days of pleasure when we sail on the River...Life will be again as I knew it with Khay...What could I ask more than that? What do I want more than that?'And slowly, very slowly indeed, she turned her face towards Hori. It was as though, silently, she asked him a question. As though he understood her, he answered:'When you were a child, I loved you. I loved your grave face and the confidence with which you came to me, asking me to mend your broken toys. And then, after eight years' absence, you came again and sat here, and brought me the thoughts that were in your mind. And your mind, Renisenb, is not like the minds of the rest of your family. It does not turn in upon itself, seeking to encase itself in narrow walls. Your mind is like my mind, it looks over the River, seeing a world of changes, of new ideas - seeing a world where all things are possible to those with courage and vision...'She broke off, unable to find words to frame her struggling thoughts. What life would be with Hori, she did not know. In spite of his gentleness, in spite of his love for her, he would remain in some respects incalculable and incomprehensible. They would share moments of great beauty and richness together - but what of their common daily life?(...)I have made my choice, Hori. I will share my life with you for good or evil, until death comes...With his arms round her, with the sudden new sweetness of his face against hers, she was filled with an exultant richness of living.”

“I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties.”

“Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.Nine little Indian boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six. Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.Five little Indian boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four.Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.One little Indian boy left all alone; He went and hanged himself and then there were none.”

“It's so much nicer to be a secret and delightful sin to anybody than to be a feather in his cap.”

“At my time of life, one knows that the worst is usually true.”

“Six people were thinking of Rosemary Barton who had died nearly a year ago...”

“I think human beings matter more than stones. (Signor Richetti)”

“A man doesn't want to feel that a woman cares more for him than he cares for her. He doesn't want to feel owned, body and soul. It's that damned possessive attitude. This man is mine---he belongs to me! He wants to get away --- to get free. He wants to own his woman; he doesn't want her to own him.(Simon Boyle)”

“I have no pity for myself either. So let it be Veronal. But I wish Hercule Poirot had never retired from work and come here to grow vegetable marrows.”

“In fact-Dr. Sheppard!”

“Oh, I'm not afraid of death! What have I got to live for after all? I suppose you believe it's very wrong to kill a person who has injured you-even if they've taken away everything you had in the world?”

“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.”

“When engaged in eating, the brain should be the servant of the stomach.”

“I always think loyalty's such a tiresome virtue. ”

“Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking.""An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.”

“She was a lucky woman who had established a happy knack of writing what quite a lot of people wanted to read.”

“The young people think the old people are fools -- but the old people know the young people are fools.”

“It is really a hard life. Men will not be nice to you if you are not good-looking, and women will not be nice to you if you are.”

“I do not argue with obstinate men. I act in spite of them.”

“There is too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will. I must concede you the Devil. God doesn't really need to punish us, Miss Barton. We're so busy punishing ourselves.”

“In the midst of life, we are in death.”

“I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.”

“If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, he will usually admit it - often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect.”

“Then there are some minor points that strike me as suggestive - for instance, the position of Mrs. Hubbard's sponge bag, the name of Mrs. Armstrong's mother, the detective methods of Mr. Hardman, the suggestion of Mr. MacQueen that Ratchett himself destroyed the charred note we found, Princess Dragomiroff's Christian name, and a grease spot on a Hungarian passport.”

“One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late.”

“He was very much a man of moods, possibly owing to what is styled the artistic temperament. I have never seen, myself, why the possession of artistic ability should be supposed to excuse a man from a decent exercise of self-control.”

“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. ”

“I know there's a proverb which that says 'To err is human,' but a human error is nothing to what a computer can do if it tries.”

“Bagi sebagian orang kebenaran itu penting, sebab mereka dapat menerimanya. Mereka dapat menghadapi kebenaran dengan tabah - ketabahan yang hanya dimiliki orang-orang yang mengharapkan kehidupan yang cerah.”

“A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path. -The Last Seance (from The Hound of Death and Other Stories, also Double Sin and Other Stories)”