I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.

You don’t appreciate a faithful husband when you’ve got one,’ said Tommy.’All my friends tell me you never know with husbands,’ said Tuppance.’You have the wrong kind of friends,’ said Tommy.

Marriage is called all sorts of things, a haven, and a refuge, and a crowning glory, and a state of bondage, and lots more. But do you know what I think it is?”What?”A sport!”And a...

Sometimes, as a great treat, I was allowed to remove Nursie’s snowy ruffled cap. Without it, she somehow retreated into private life and lost her official status. Then, with elaborate care, I would tie a...

What a queer topsy turvy world it was. It used to be the man who went to the wars, the woman who stayed at home. But here the positions were reversed.

The illusion that freedom is the prerogative of one’s own particular race is fairly widespread.

I often wonder why the whole world is so prone to generalise. Generalisations are seldom if ever true and are usually utterly inaccurate.

I looked at her. Sheila was my girl–the girl I wanted–and wanted for keeps. But it wasn’t any use having illusions about her. Sheila was a liar and probably always would be a liar. It...

Poirot said “you will find,M.le docteur,if you have much to do with cases of this kind,that they all resemble each other in one thing.””what is that?” I asked curiously”everyone concerned in them has something to...

I’m going to marry him. And if he thinks he can get divorced and married every two or three years in the approved Hollywood fashion, well, he never made a bigger mistake in his life....

It’s what’s in *yourself* that makes you happy or unhappy.

I gather,” he added, “that you’ve never had much time to study the classics?””That is so.””Pity. Pity. You’ve missed a lot. Everyone should be made to study the classics, if I had my way.”Poirot shrugged...

The man who came into the room did not look as though his name was, or could have ever been, Robinson. It might have been Demetrius, or Isaacstein, or Perenna – though not one or...

Maybe it is because I am an old man, but I find, M. Poirot, that there is something about the defenselessness of youth that moves me to tears. Youth is so vulnerable. It is so...

Civilized misery is the worst misery. – Hilary Craven, Pg. 33

… one may live in a big house and yet have no comfort.

I remember one teacher there — I can’t recall her name now. She was short and spare, and I remember her eager jutting chin. Quite unexpectedly one day (in the middle, I think, of an...

Trains are relentless things, aren’t they, Monsieur Poirot? People are murdered and die, but they go on just the same. I am talking nonsense, but you know what I mean.””Yes, yes, I know. Life is...

I did not deceive you, mon ami. At most, I permitted you to deceive yourself.

Miss Howard: Like a good detective story myself. Lots of nonsense written, though. Criminal discovered in last Chapter. Everyone dumbfounded. Real crime – you’d know at once.

Your idea of a woman is someone who gets on a chair and shrieks if she sees a mouse. That’s all prehistoric.

I feel that if I could sweep all this away . . . all the buildings and the sects and the fierce squabbling churches . . . that I might see Christ’s quiet figure riding...

Everybody said, “Follow your heart”. I did, it got broken

I have always noticed that these artists and writers are very unbalanced

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.

I believe at least in one of the chief tenets of the Christian faith–contentment with a lowly place. I am a doctor and I know that ambition–the desire to succeed–to have power–leads to most ills...

In the midst of life, we are in death.

Poirot, watching him, felt suddenly a doubt–an uncomfortable twinge. Was there, here, something that he had missed? Some richness of the spirit? Sadness crept over him. Yes, he should have become acquainted with the classics....

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

Who was there to guard youth from pain and death – youth who could not, who had never been able to, guard itself? Did they know too little? Or was it that they knew too...

Mon cher docteur! Do you not think I know the female mentality? The village gossip, it is based always, always on the relations of the sexes. If a man poisons his wife in order to...

I always think loyalty’s such a tiresome virtue.

Un archeologo è il miglior marito che una donna possa avere: più lei diventa vecchia, più lui s’interessa a lei.

What can I say at seventy-five? “Thank God for my good life,and for all the love that has been given to me.

She’s had a long life of experience in noticing evil, fancying evil, suspecting evil and going forth to do battle with evil.

If Hori were to die, I should not forget! Hori is a song in my heart for ever… That means-that there is no more death…

A man travels fastest who travels alone.

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

An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her.

One little Indian left all alone, he went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

When you find that people are not telling you the truth—look out!

In fact,’ said Poirot, ‘she stabbed him in the dark, not realising that he was dead already, but somehow deduced that he had a watch in his pyjama pocket, took it out, put back the...

One of the saddest things in life, is the things one remembers.

Death, mademoiselle, unfortunately creates a prejudice. A prejudice in favour of the deceased. I heard what you said just now to my friend Hastings. ‘A nice bright girl with no men friends.’ You said that...

Speech is the deadliest of revealers.’ – Hercule Poirot, Cards on the Table

In fact-Dr. Sheppard!

He felt a strange pang. It was, perhaps, the fault of old Mr Jonathan, speaking of Juliet… No Juliet here – unless perhaps one could imagine Juliet a survivor – living on, deprived of Romeo…...

One must have common sense, nothing is permanent, nothing endures. I have come to the conclusion that this place is run by a madman. A madman, let me tell you, can be very logical. If...

An appreciative listener is always stimulating.

You’ve a pretty good nerve,” said Ratchett. “Will twenty thousand dollars tempt you?”It will not.”If you’re holding out for more, you won’t get it. I know what a thing’s worth to me.”I, also M. Ratchett.”What’s...