25 Agatha Christie Quotes From Her Iconic Detective Novels

If you enjoy reading a detective novel or murder mystery, then you will love these Agatha Christie quotes!

Agatha Mary Christie was born in Torquay, England, in 1890 and died in Wallingford, England, in 1976 at the age of 85.

She was a well-known and accomplished author who was famous for her detective novels.

Christie wrote 66 detective novels; her most well-known and recurring characters were Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

Besides her detective novels, she wrote 14 short stories and the script for The Mousetrap, the world’s longest-running play.

Christie won many awards during her writing career, and Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature.

Her books have sold more than 2 billion copies, and according to Guinness World Records, this makes her the best-selling fiction author of all time.

Take a look at these Agatha Christie quotes and then read one of her books yourself.

The Best Agatha Christie Quotes 

Check out some of the best Agatha Christie quotes. 

1. “Bitterness leads nowhere.” — Agatha Christie 

2. “Fear is incomplete knowledge.” — Agatha Christie

3. “Very few of us are what we seem.” — Agatha Christie

4. “Assumptions are dangerous things.” — Agatha Christie

5. “To win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.” — Agatha Christie

6. “Courage is the resolution to face the unforeseen.” — Agatha Christie

7. “The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” — Agatha Christie

8. “But surely for everything you have to love, you have to pay some price.” — Agatha Christie

9. “One doesn’t recognize the really important moments in one’s life until it’s too late.” — Agatha Christie

10. “Nobody knows what another person is thinking. They may imagine they do, but they are nearly always wrong.” — Agatha Christie

Thought-Provoking Agatha Christie Quotes 

Take a look at these thought-provoking Agatha Christie quotes. 

11. “When the fact doesn’t meet the theory, then let go of the theory.” — Agatha Christie

12. “There is no telling what a human character is. Until the test comes.” — Agatha Christie

13. “The popular idea that a child forgets easily is not an accurate one.” — Agatha Christie 

14. “If you love, you will suffer, and if you do not love, you do not know the meaning of a Christian life.” — Agatha Christie

15. “Until one looks back on one’s own past, one fails to realize what an extraordinary view of the world a child has.” — Agatha Christie

16. “Writing is a great comfort to people like me, who are unsure of themselves and have trouble expressing themselves properly.” — Agatha Christie

17. “It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.” — Agatha Christie

More Agatha Christie Quotes

Here are some more Agatha Christie quotes. 

18. “A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world.” — Agatha Christie 

19. “There are questions that you don’t ask because you’re afraid of the answers to them.” — Agatha Christie 

20. “Then, of course, you have to start writing it. That’s not nearly so much fun – it becomes hard work.” — Agatha Christie 

21. “I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming… suddenly you find – at the age of 50, say – that a whole new life has opened before you.” — Agatha Christie 

22. “You must write pretty fast, keep in the mood and to keep the talk flowing naturally, I prefer to write a play as a play, that is, rather than to adapt a book.” — Agatha Christie 

23. “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.” — Agatha Christie 

24. “Nothing turns out quite in the way you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter, or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll.” — Agatha Christie 

25. “There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.” — Agatha Christie 

Agatha Christie’s Personal Life

Christie grew up in a wealthy family and persevered in writing despite her unsuccessful first writings.

She married Archibald Christie in 1914 and had her only child with him before divorcing in 1928 and then marrying Max Mallowan in 1930, with whom she stayed married until she died in 1976.

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