Agatha Christie · 317 pages
Rating: (23.7K votes)
“A man when he is making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little attentions and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love he can't help looking like a sheep.”
“I do not argue with obstinate men. I act in spite of them.”
“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 like a train, Mademoiselle. It goes on. And it is a good thing that that is so."
"Why?"
"Because the train gets to its journey's end at last, and there is a proverb about that in your language, Mademoiselle."
"'Journey's end in lovers meeting.'" Lenox laughed. "That is not going to be true for me."
"Yes--yes, it is true. You are young, younger than you yourself know. Trust the train, Mademoiselle, for it is le bon Dieu who drives it."
The whistle of the engine came again.
"Trust the train, Mademoiselle," murmured Poirot again. "And trust Hercule Poirot. He knows.”
“...إن الرجل الطيب قد يهلكه حبه لامرأة سيئة - والعكس صحيح أيضا- فالرجل الشرير قد يهلكه حبه لامرأة طيبة”
“The expected has happened, and when the expected happens, it always causes me emotion.”
“Ah, mais c'est Anglais ca," he murmured, "everything in black and white, everything clear cut and well defined. But life, it is not like that, Mademoiselle. There are things that are not yet, but which cast their shadow before.”
“I am not mad. I am eccentric perhaps--at least certain people say so; but as regards my profession. I am very much as one says, 'all there.”
“You tell your lies and you think nobody knows. But there are two people who know. Yes- two people. One is le bon Dieu - and the other is Hercule Poirot”
“A man when he is making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little attentions and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love, he can't help looking like a sheep. Now, whenever that young man looked at you, he looked like a sheep. I take back all I said this morning. It is genuine.”
“Katherine Grey was born with the power of managing old ladies, dogs, and small boys, and she did it without any apparent sense of strain.”
“M. Van Aldin is an obstinate man," said Poirot drily. "I do not argue with obstinate men. I act in spite of them.”
“But when a man is really in love he can't help looking like a sheep. Now whenever that young man looked he looked like a sheep I take back all is this morning. It is genuine.”
“those who have listened do not find it easy to talk; they keep their sorrows and joys to themselves and tell no one.”
“-يا آنسة، هذه الأشياء يصعب التعبير عنها. عندما رأيتك أول مرة تقفين متفرجة على الحياة وكنت تبدين هادئة مستمتعة كمن يرقب رواية تقدم أمامه.
-والآن؟
-الآن أنت تراقبين المشهد، وقد يكون ما سأقوله مضحكًا، ولكن تبدو عليك نظرة الحرص التي تبدو على وجه مقاتل يقوم بلعبة صعبة”
“سيدي، لو أن طبيبًا يسير في الطريق فوقعت حادثة، فهل يقول لنفسه: لقد اعتزلت عملي وسأمضي في طريقي، بينما هنالك شخص ينزف حتى الموت تحت قدميه؟”
“I was wrong about that young man of yours. A man when he is making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little attentions and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love, he can't help looking like a sheep. Now, whenever that young man looked at you, he looked like a sheep. I take back all I said this morning. It is genuine.”
“Yes, yes, I know. Life is like a train, Mademoiselle. It goes on. And it is a good thing that that is so.” “Why?” “Because the train gets to its journey’s end at last, and there is a proverb about that in your language, Mademoiselle.” “ ‘Journeys end in lovers meeting.’ ” Lenox laughed. “That is not going to be true for me.” “Yes—yes, it is true. You are young, younger than you yourself know. Trust the train, Mademoiselle, for it is le bon Dieu who drives it.”
“In an Empire where rats ruled, he was the king of the rats.”
“Forse avete ragione, mademoiselle. Sapete, l'uomo che vi parla ha avuto modo di osservare il mondo in lungo e in largo, e così adesso so che due cose sono vere. Un uomo buono può essere rovinato dal suo amore per una donna cattiva...ma vale anche l'inverso. Un uomo cattivo può ugualmente essere rovinato dal suo amore per una donna buona."
Katherine si volse a guardarlo un pò incerta.
"Quando dite rovinato..."
"Intendo dal suo punto di vista. Uno deve mettere nel fare il male altrettanto trasporto che mette nel fare qualsiasi altra cosa.”
“Io non sono brava come voi, Monsieur Poirot. Metà delle cose che mi avete detto mi sembravano fatti sconclusionati e senza senso. Anche a me erano venute delle idee, ma da un angolo completamente diverso..."
"Ah, ma è sempre così", disse Poirot senza scomporsi. "Uno specchio mostra a tutti la stessa verità, ma ognuno la vede da angoli diversi, a seconda della posizione che ha rispetto a esso.”
“أنا لا أعني شيئًا، كل ما في الأمر أنني أرتب الحقائق”
“إنها مثل أي شخص بارد الأعصاب واثق من نفسه، عندما يفقد سيطرته على نفسه يفقدها تمامًا”
“إن سيدتي محظوظة فالشمس مشرقة، قد يحدث أن يصل المسافر إلى هنا ليجد الجو قاتمًا فينتابه شعور قوي بخيبة الأمل”
“¿Qué es importante y que no lo es? Nunca se puede decir. Hemos de fijarnos en los menores detalles.”
“I never prophesy," he declared pompously. "It is true that I have the habit of being always right - but I do not boast of it.”
“You tell your lies and you think nobody knows. But there are two people who know. Yes - two people. One is le bon Dieu -" He raised a hand to heaven, and then settling himself back in his chair and shutting his eyelids, he murmured comfortably: "And the other is Hercule Poirot.”
“Recuerde que en esta vida las cosas no son tan bonitas como parecen a primera vista.”
“Bueno, debe ser que el amor no logra adueñarse de nosotros hasta que tenemos cierta edad.”
“Todos nos vemos en el espejo de distintos ángulos, pero estamos todos ante él, y por lo tanto vemos también lo mismo.”
“El destino parece a veces burlarse de los serers humanos complaciéndose en descubrir lo que éstos quisieran conservar secreto.”
“Sixty three sunsets I saw revolve on that perpendicular hill – mad raging sunsets pouring in sea foams of cloud through unimaginable crags like the crags you grayly drew in pencil as a child, with every rose-tint of hope beyond, making you feel just like them, brilliant and bleak beyond words. –”
“No sooner had he finished with a case than another two or three appeared in its place. What was the name of that creature? The Hydra, was it? That was what he was fighting. Every time he cut off a head, more popped into his in-tray. Coming back from a holiday was a nightmare. And now they were giving him rocks to push up hills as well.”
“Saturday morning was their unrestricted television time, and they usually took advantage of it to watch a series of cartoon shows that would certainly have been impossible before the discovery of LSD.”
“What is the least number of weights that can be used on a set of scales to weigh any whole number of kilograms from 1 to 40?”
“Abra DeMadrigal didn't look young enough to be my sister anymore. Her sorrow weighed her down and aged her. She was still beautiful, but she looked very far away. No wonder our people had raven eyes, so distant, so sad. No matter how wise she was, my mother looked like a woman who hadn't truely believed how much evil there was in our world. Not until this moment. ”
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.