In the labyrinth of mystery literature, the name Agatha Christie is inscribed with golden letters. The queen of crime, famed for her baffling plots and cunning characters, spun words into intricate webs, leaving readers astounded and desperate for more. This enigma of a woman brought to life Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and a treasure trove of “Mysterious Agatha Christie Quotes” that have since become iconic. Have you ever wondered what depths of wisdom and intrigue lay within these quotes? Well, prepare to embark on a riveting journey of 50 such captivating quips!
True story: once, during an unsettling episode of amnesia, Christie herself became the central figure of a mystery as perplexing as those in her books. The year was 1926, and Christie mysteriously disappeared, sparking a nationwide manhunt involving thousands of police and volunteers. She was eventually found, ten days later, with no recollection of events. This real-life episode not only heightened her mysterious persona but also gave birth to many quotable statements from her interviews and writings about the incident. So, hold onto your seats as we explore a world woven with intricate words and uncanny wisdom. This compilation of “Agatha Christie Quotes” will leave you ruminating, wondering, and yearning for more. Ready to uncover the mystery?
The Enigma Begins
1. “The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.” – Murder on the Orient Express
2. “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.” – The Body in the Library
3. “Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.” – The Moving Finger
4. “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
5. “One of the saddest things in life is the things one remembers.” – An Autobiography
6. “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.'” – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
7. “People with a grudge against the world are always dangerous. They seem to think life owes them something.” – The Seven Dials Mystery
8. “There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when good time comes.” – The Mysterious Affair at Styles
9. “Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend.” – The Mysterious Affair at Styles
10. “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.” – The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
Related Article: 50 Horrifying H.P. Lovecraft Quotes
Into the Heart of the Mystery
- “The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.” – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- “An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her.” – Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – They Do It with Mirrors
- “Evil is not something superhuman, it's something less than human.” – Murder is Easy
- “One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late.” – The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
- “But surely for everything you love you have to pay some price?” – An Autobiography
- “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.” – Hallowe'en Party
- “Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.” – The Mysterious Mr. Quin
- “It's like all those quiet people, when they do lose their tempers they lose them with a vengeance.” – Five Little Pigs
- “I specialize in murders of quiet, domestic interest.” – The A.B.C. Murders
Underneath the Shadows
- “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
- “You can't really change human nature—and it's good that you can't.” – The Moving Finger
- “Everything that has occurred in the world happens in virtue of necessity.” – Taken at the Flood
- “Never tell all you know—not even to the person you know best.” – The Secret Adversary
- “Too much mercy… often resulted in further crimes which were fatal to innocent victims who need not have been victims if justice had been put first and mercy second.” – And Then There Were None
- “Poirot, it's criminal what they do these days in the name of the law.” – The Big Four
- “The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes.” – Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
- “The young people think the old people are fools—but the old people know the young people are fools.” – Murder at the Vicarage
- “It often seems to me that's all detective work is, wiping out your false starts and beginning again.” – Death on the Nile
- “We must learn to accept life as it is and modify our expectations accordingly.” – Sad Cypress
Related Article: 50 Sci-fi H.G. Wells Quotes
The Veil Lifts
- “The human mind prefers to be spoon-fed with the thoughts of others, but deprived of such nourishment it will, reluctantly, begin to think for itself—and such thinking, remember, is original thinking and may have valuable results.” – An Autobiography
- “Fear is incomplete knowledge.” – Death Comes as the End
- “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 Hound of Death
- “In the midst of life, we are in death.” – The Moving Finger
- “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.” – An Autobiography
- “People are far more dangerous than anything your imagination can evolve.” – N or M?
- “There is no such thing as ‘impossible.' The very word says ‘I'm possible!'” – Elephants Can Remember
- “But surely for everything you have to love you have to pay some price?” – Twice Shy
- “There's too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.” – And Then There Were None
- “Curious things, habits. People themselves never knew they had them.” – The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mystery Resolved
- “If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody.” – A Murder is Announced
- “If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.” – Agatha Christie's Poirot
- “Any woman can fool a man if she wants to and if he's in love with her.” – Agatha Christie's Poirot
- “It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story.” – Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
- “One never quite allows for the moron in our midst.” – Peril at End House
- “Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody.” – Agatha Christie's Poirot
- “Bad temper is its own safety valve. He who can bark does not bite.” – The Seven Dials Mystery
- “Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.” – Agatha Christie's Poirot
- “Life is like a game, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But no matter what your cards in life, whether club, spade, or diamond, remember – never play without a heart!” – They Came to Baghdad
- “It is sometimes as dangerous to be run into by a microbe as by a trolley car.” – The Pale Horse
Related Article: 50 Classic E.M. Forster Quotes