Quotes from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“It is the quietest and meekest people who are often capable of the most sudden and unexpected violences for the reason that when their control does snap, it goes entirely. (Hercule Poirot)”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“In conversation, points arise! If a human being converses much, it is impossible for him to avoid the truth! (Hercule Poirot)”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“I believe the present matters --- not the past! The past muust go. If we seek to keep the past alive, we end, I think, by distorting it. We see it in exaggerated terms --- a false perspective. - Hilda Lee”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“There is at Christmas time a great deal of hypocrisy, honourable hypocrisy, hypocrisy undertaken pour le bon motif, c'est entendu, but nevertheless hypocrisy!”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“I am pointing to you that under these conditions--mental strain, physical malaise--it is highly probable that dislikes that were before merely mild and disagreements that were trivial might suddenly assume a more serious note. The result of pretending to be a more amiable, a more forgiving, a more high-minded person than one really is, has sooner or later the effect of causing one to behave as a more disagreeable, a more ruthless and an altogether more unpleasant person than is actually the case!
If you dam the stream of natural behavior, mon ami, sooner or later the dam bursts and cataclysm occurs.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“He said, and there was a wistful note in his voice: ‘It is true that your moustache is superb…Tell me, do you use for it a special pomade?’ ‘Pomade? Good lord, no!’ ‘What do you use?’ ‘Use? Nothing at all. It—it just grows.’ Poirot sighed.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“And families now, families who have been separated throughout the year, assemble once more together. Now under these conditions, my friend, you must admit that there will occur a great amount of strain. People who do not feel amiable are putting great pressure on themselves to appear amiable! There is at Christmas time a great deal of hypocrisy, honourable hypocrisy, hypocrisy undertaken pour le bon motif, c'est entendu, but nevertheless hypocrisy.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“Hercule Poirot stared hard at Superintendent Sugden’s moustache. Its luxuriance seemed to fascinate him.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“But all the same, it is true what I say--artificial conditions bring about their natural reaction.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“I know enough of life to know that you can never judge any case on its outside merits.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“Dunque," mormorò, "secondo lei le feste natalizie sono un'epoca poco favorevole ai delitti."
"E' quel che penso."
"Perché?"
"Perché?" Johnson parve un pò perplesso. "Perché, come ho detto, c'è un senso diffuso di allegria, di buona volontà...di buoni pranzi..."
"Come siete sentimentali, voi inglesi!"
"Bé, e anche se fosse così, che male ci vede? E' forse un male amare le tradizioni, le vecchie feste?"
"Oh no, nessun male, anzi è una cosa molto poetica! Ma esaminiamo i fatti. Lei ha detto che Natale è un'epoca di buoni pranzi. Questo significa che in questi giorni si mangia e si beve troppo...Per conseguenza...indigestioni, e all'indigestione si accompagna spesso una speciale irritabilità del carattere."
"Ma i delitti non vengono commessi per irritabilità."
"uhm! Non ne sono troppo sicuro...Ma partiamo anche da un altro punto di vista. A Natale impera lo spirito di "buona volontà". Vecchi litigi vengono dimenticati, coloro che si trovano in disaccordo fanno la pace...Sia pure provvisoriamente, le famiglie che sono state separate per tutto l'anno si raccolgono ancora una volta. In queste occasioni, amico mio, deve ammettere che i nervi possono venir sottoposti a dura prova. Persone che non hanno alcuna voglia di essere amabili fanno uno sforzo per apparirlo...C'è in essi molta ipocrisia, a Natale, onorevole ipocrisia, senza dubbio, ipocrisia pour le bon motif, ma sempre ipocrisia."
"Bé...io non presenterei le cose in questo modo," disse Johnson con aria dubbiosa.
Poirot gli sorrise.
"No, no, sono io che le presento così...e che sostengo come lo sforzo per essere buoni e amabili crei un malessere che può riuscire in definitiva pericoloso. Chiudete le valvole di sicurezza del vostro contegno naturale, e, presto o tardi, la caldaia scoppierà provocando un disastro."
Il colonnello Johnson guardò il piccolo belga.
"Non riesco mai a capire quando parla sul serio e quando si sta burlando di me."
"Non parlo sul serio, no!" disse Poirot ridendo. "Nemmeno per sogno. Ma sostengo che condizioni artificiali di vita finiscono sempre con una naturale reazione.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“It is so unkind--' 'Perhaps. But sometimes a compulsion comes over one to speak the truth!”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“Do you mean to tell me, Superintendent, that this is one of those damned cases you get in detective stories where a man is killed in a locked room by some apparently supernatural agency.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“The result of pretending to be a more amiable, a more forgiving, a more high-minded person than one really is, has sooner or later the effect of causing one to behave as a more disagreeable, a more ruthless and an altogether more unpleasant person than is actually the case! If you dam the stream of natural behaviour, mon ami, sooner or later the dam bursts and a cataclysm occurs!”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“Dunque," chiese, "tu non apprezzi proprio la fedeltà? La fedeltà alle proprie memorie?"
"Io credo che solo il presente abbia importanza, non il passato. Lasciamolo perdere il passato. Se cerchiamo di mantenerlo in vita, lo alteriamo, lo vediamo in una prospettiva sbagliata...esageriamo sempre."
"Ma io ricordo a perfezione ogni parola e ogni incidente di quei giorni!" esclamò David con passione.
"E non dovresti, caro: perché così rivivi quei giorni col sentimento di un ragazzo, mentre dovresti giudicarli con l'equilibrio e la maturità di un uomo."
"E che importa?"
Hilda esitò. Si rendeva conto che non era saggio proseguire, eppure desiderava troppo dire certe cose.
"Ecco...io credo che tu continui a veder tuo padre come un...mostro. Ne fai una specie di personificazione del male...Probabilmente invece, se lo vedessi oggi, ti renderesti conto che è un uomo qualunque, un uomo forse dominato dalle passioni, non esente da biasimo, ma sempre e soltanto un uomo, non una specie di mostro inumano."
"Non capisci...Il modo in cui ha trattato mia madre..."
"Vi è una certa forma di dolcezza, di sottomissione," disse Hilda gravemente, "che stimola i peggiori istinti di un uomo, mentre lo stesso uomo affrontato con spirito deciso diventerebbe una creatura tutta diversa."
"Dunque, secondo te, è colpa della mamma..."
"No, no," lo interruppe Hilda. "Sono certa che tuo padre deve averla trattata molto male, ma...ma il matrimonio è una cosa specialissima e non credo che un estraneo - sia pure un figlio - abbia il diritto di giudicare tra i coniugi. Comunque, il tuo risentimento attuale non può più aiutare in nulla tua madre...Tutto è finito, ormai: non rimane che un vecchio malandato in salute che desidera rivedere suo figlio per Natale."
"E tu vuoi che io vada?"
Ancora una volta Hilda esitò. Poi si decise.
"Sì," disse. "Desidero che tu vada, e la faccia finita una volta per tutte.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“I believe the present matters - not the past! The past must go. If we seek to keep the past alive, we end, I think, by distorting it. We see it in exaggerated terms - a false perspective.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

“Ah, but you must have a Christmas uncomplicated by murder.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Hercule Poirot's Christmas

About the author

Popular quotes

“And it now occurred to me that maybe the whole point was, in fact, to lose yourself. But not in the sense of confusion--in the sense of connection to something bigger than yourself...Getting lost to be found.”
― Tanuja Desai Hidier, quote from Born Confused

“Beyond the pain, life continues to be sweet. The basics are still there. Beauty, food and friendship, reservoirs of love and understanding. Later, possibly not yet, you are going to need others who will encourage you to make new beginnings. Welcome them. They will help you move on, to cherish happy memories and confront the painful ones with more than bitterness and anger.”
― Rosamunde Pilcher, quote from Winter Solstice

“Its weak people who are dangerous, who lash out uncontrollably and hurt you back. Strong people can walk away- no repercussions, you see, if you attack a strong person.”
― Sophie Hannah, quote from The Other Half Lives

“Entrepreneurs are everywhere. You don’t have to work in a garage to be in a startup. The concept of entrepreneurship includes anyone who works within my definition of a startup: a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty. That means entrepreneurs are everywhere and the Lean Startup approach can work in any size company, even a very large enterprise, in any sector or industry. 2. Entrepreneurship is management. A startup is an institution, not just a product, and so it requires a new kind of management specifically geared to its context of extreme uncertainty. In fact, as I will argue later, I believe “entrepreneur” should be considered a job title in all modern companies that depend on innovation for their future growth. 3. Validated learning. Startups exist not just to make stuff, make money, or even serve customers. They exist to learn how to build a sustainable business. This learning can be validated scientifically by running frequent experiments that allow entrepreneurs to test each element of their vision. 4. Build-Measure-Learn. The fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful startup processes should be geared to accelerate that feedback loop. 5. Innovation accounting. To improve entrepreneurial outcomes and hold innovators accountable, we need to focus on the boring stuff: how to measure progress, how to set up milestones, and how to prioritize work. This requires a new kind of accounting designed for startups—and the people who hold them accountable.”
― Eric Ries, quote from The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

“As the late afternoon sun shone in Shaw's face and a soft flower-scented wind cooled him, his unhappiness turned to a detachment that was not at all unpleasant. He was utterly alone in the world. This knowledge thrilled him.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.