I think I said that every generation had its weaklings – that that was one of the penalties of greatness – but that their failings were seldom remembered by posterity.
Life is only one of the Great Illusions.
Shaitana was a man who prided himself on his Mephistophelian attitude to life. He was a man of great vanity. He was also a stupid man-that’s why he is dead.
It is the kind of thing that happens to you when you are stupid,” said Esa. “Things go entirely differently from the way you planned them.
It seemed longer and redder than any car could be. It had a long gleaming bonnet of polished metal.
En voiture, Monsieur,’ said the Wagon Lit conductor.
I suppose that one can, if one has the determination, always get something out of life.
In some ways I really think that men are beasts.
But afterwards you went on remembering.
I walked into Cartwright’s and ordered two coffee ice cream sodas – to steady my nerves. A man, I suppose, would have had a stiff peg; but girls derive a lot of comfort from ice cream sodas. I applied myself to the end of the straw with gusto. The cool liquid went trickling down my throat in the most agreeable manner. I pushed the first glass aside empty.
If you’ve been snubbed, or ignored, or frustrated, and your life’s pretty drab and empty, I suppose you get a sense of power from stabbing in the dark at people who are happy and enjoying themselves.
Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us, I think I know which one.
What a person really is, is only apparent when the test comes – that is, the moment when you stand or fall on your own feet.
A meal should always lie lightly on the estomac,” said Poirot. “It should not be so heavy as to paralyze thought.
You should always pay attention to your instincts.
We all have the little grey cells. And so few of us know how to use them.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’ve got a plan. But I’ve got an idea. It’s a very useful thing sometimes, an idea. – Superintendent Battle.
I told you there was nothing to it,” said Arbuthnot apologetically. “But you know what it is – early hours of the morning – everything very still – the thing had a sinister look – like a detective story. All nonsense, really.
It’s very dangerous to believe people, I haven’t for years.
I’ve grasped that,′ said Bundle. ‘I’m not a fool.’ ‘No,’ said Superintendent Battle. ‘Never knew a young lady who was less so. What I’ll do for you, Lady Eileen, is this. I’ll just give you one little hint. And I’m doing it because I never have thought much of the motto ‘Safety First.’ In my opinion all the people who spend their lives avoiding being run over by buses had much better be run over and put safely out of the way. They’re no good.