35 Preeminent Quotes by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie, in full Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, née Miller, (born September 15, 1890, Torquay, Devon, England – died January 12, 1976, Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, England) was an English author best known for her detective novels revolving around Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Her work includes novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and two autobiographies. Most notable are The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Murder on the Orient Express (1934), And Then There Were None (1939), and The Mousetrap (1952), the longest-running play in the history of modern theatre.
Agatha Christie is one of the top-selling authors of all time, and according to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author.
Below is a collection of Agatha Christie’s best quotes with sources and images.
Very few of us are what we seem to be.Partners in Crime (1929), (HarperCollins, ed. 2015), Story 9. The Man in the Mist, Page 121
Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), (HarperCollins, ed. 2007), Chapter 11, Page 236
The impossible cannot have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.Murder on the Orient Express (1934), (HarperCollins, ed. 2007), Part II, Chapter 13, Page 213
Instinct is a marvellous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), (HarperCollins, ed. 2007), Chapter 8, Page 187
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 Autobiography (1977), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1977), Part I, Chapter 5, Page 51
The young people think the old people are fools; but the old people know the young people are fools!Murder at the Vicarage (1930), (HarperCollins, ed. 2016), Chapter 31, Page 292
An appreciative listener is always stimulating.The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), (HarperCollins, ed. 2007), Chapter 1, Page 16
I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention – invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.An Autobiography (1977), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1977), Part III, Chapter 2, Page 121
Never do anything yourself that others can do for you.The Labours of Hercules (1947), (Dell Publishing Co., ed. 1959), Story 11. The Apples of the Hesperides, Page 221
Curious things, habits. People themselves never knew they had them.The Hound of Death and Other Stories (1933), (HarperCollins, ed. 1997), Story 7. The Witness for the Prosecution, Page 123
You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), (HarperCollins, ed. 2007), Chapter 5, Page 118
Words are only the outer clothing of ideas.The A.B.C. Murders (1936), (HarperCollins, ed. 2011), Chapter 18, Page 126
Never tell all you know – not even to the person you know best.The Secret Adversary (1922), (HarperCollins, ed. 2001), Chapte 15, Page 166
Everybody always knows something even if it’s something they don’t know they know.Cat Among the Pigeons (1959), (HarperCollins, ed. 1991), Chapter 12, Page 150
I know there’s a proverb which says ‘To err is human,’ but a human error is nothing to what a computer can do if it tries.Hallowe'en Party (1969), (HarperCollins, ed. 1994), Chapter 6, Page 45
A man when he is making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little attention and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love he can’t help looking like a sheep.The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928), (HarperCollins, ed. 1994), Chapter 30, Page 205
Everyone is a potential murderer. In everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill – though not the will to kill.Curtain (1975), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1975), Postscript, Page 216
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It’s like all those quiet people, when they do lose their tempers they lose them with a vengeance.The A.B.C. Murders (1936), (HarperCollins, ed. 2011), Chapter 11, Page 77
It is really a very 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.The Man in the Brown Suit (1924), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1924), Chapter II, Page 18
Most successes are unhappy. That’s why they are successes – they have to reassure themselves about themselves by achieving something that the world will notice.Sparkling Cyanide (1944), (HarperCollins, ed. 1992), Book II, Chapter 9, Page 90
The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it.The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), (HarperCollins, ed. 1991), Chapter 12, Page 141
Everybody is very much alike, really. But fortunately, perhaps, they don’t realize it.The Thirteen Problems (1932), (Berkley Books, ed. 1984), Story 6. The Thumb Mark of St Peter, Page 82
One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is to have a happy childhood.An Autobiography (1977), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1977), Part I, Chapter 1, Page 3
If one sticks too rigidly to one’s principles one would hardly see anybody.The Mousetrap and Other Plays (1978), (Dodd, Mead & Co., ed. 1978), Play 6. Towards Zero, Page 431
Every revolution has had its honest men. They are soon disposed of afterwards.The Secret Adversary (1922), (HarperCollins, ed. 2001), Chapter 8, Page 82
Arrange your ideas. Be methodical. Be orderly. There is the secret of success.The Murder on the Links (1923), (HarperCollins, ed. 2015), Chapter 19, Page 186
The men who loom most largely in the public eye are men of little or no personality. They are marionettes who dance to the wires pulled by a master hand.The Big Four (1927), (HarperCollins, ed. 2011), Chapter III, Page 23
Words are such uncertain things, they so often sound well, but mean the opposite of what one thinks they do.Partners in Crime (1929), (HarperCollins, ed. 2015), Chapter 14, Page 221
Evil never goes unpunished. But the punishment is sometimes secret.Peril at End House (1932), (HarperCollins, ed. 2001), Chapter 16, Page 203
Keeping a secret is an art that requires many lies magnificently told, and a great aptitude for playing the comedy and enjoying it.Peril at End House (1932), (HarperCollins, ed. 2001), Chapter 18., Page 238
When everything else fails – music remains.Death in the Clouds (1935), (HarperCollins, ed. 1994), Chapter 23, Page 195
Memory is a wonderful gift. With it the past is never the past.Cards on the Table (1936), (HarperCollins, ed. 2001), Chapter 11, Page 123
Man was forced to invent work in order to escape the strain of having to think.Death on the Nile (1937), (HarperCollins, ed. 1992), Chapter 1, Page 14
The people who do us most harm are the people who shield us from reality.Five Little Pigs (1942), (HarperCollins, ed. 1994), Book II, Narrative of Cecilia Williams, Page 181
People more often kill those they love than those they hate. Possibly because only the people you love can really make life unendurable to you.Crooked House (1949), (HarperCollins, ed. 1991), Chapter 12, Page 111
Disputed
An archeologist is the best husband any woman can get. Just consider: The older she gets, the more he is interested in her.Agatha Christie denied making this quip. (More info)