Agatha Christie

“All three wore the air of superiority assumed by people who are already in a place when studying new arrivals.”

“Evil never goes unpunished, Monsieur. But the punishment is sometimes secret.”

“This was genius at close quarters, and genius had that something above normal in it that was a great strain upon the ordinary mind and feeling. All five were different from each other, yet each had that curious quality of burning intensity, the single-mindedness of purpose that made such a terrifying impression. She did not know whether it were a quality of brain or rather a quality of outlook, of intensity. But each of them, she thought, was in his or her way a passionate idealist.”

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

“If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.”

“The amount of women you hear say, "If Donald—or Arthur—or whatever his name was—had only lived." And I sometimes think but if he had, he'd have been a stout, unromantic, short-tempered, middle-aged husband as likely as not.”

“The longer the time that has elapsed, the more things fall into proportion. One sees them in their true relationship to one another.”

“What good is money if it can't buy happiness?”

“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 damned good sport too,' said Tommy.”

“A little difficult to know where you were with Elinor. She didn't reveal much of what she thought and felt about things. He liked that about her. He hated people who reeled off their thoughts and feelings to you, who took it for granted that you wanted to know all their mechanism. Reserve was always more interesting.”

“If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody.”

“The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.”

“There's too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.”

“I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”

“I'm sorry, but I do hate this differentiation between the sexes. 'The modern girl has a thoroughly businesslike attitude to life' That sort of thing. It's not a bit true! Some girls are businesslike and some aren't. Some men are sentimental and muddle-headed, others are clear-headed and logical. There are just different types of brains.”

“In my opinion, the state of mind of a community is always directly due to the influence of the man at the top.”

“Child's evidence is always the best evidence there is. I'd rely on it every time. No good in court, of course. Children can't stand being asked direct questions. They mumble or else look idiotic and say they don't know. They're at their best when they're showing off.”

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

“I am not one to rely upon the expert procedure. It is the psychology I seek, not the fingerprint or the cigarette ash.”