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

“Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill-though not the will to kill.”

“Authors were shy, unsociable creatures, atoning for their lack of social aptitude by inventing their own companions and conversations.”

“As life goes on it becomes tiring to keep up the character you invented for yourself, and so you relapse into individuality and become more like yourself everyday.”

“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)”

“Life can be very terrible," he said. "One needs much courage.""To kill oneself? yes, I suppose one does.""Also to live," said Poirot, "one needs courage.”

“I daresay idle tittle-tattle is very wrong and unkind, but it is so often true, isn't it.”