156 quotes
I like to inquire into everything. Hercule Poirot is a good dog. The good dog follows the scent, and if, regrettably, there is no scent to follow, he noses around — seeking always something that is not very nice.
Peril at End House (1932)
I have always been so sure — too sure... But now I am very humble and I say like a little child: "I do not know..."
Curtain - Poirot's Last Case (1975)
Pilar sat squeezed up against the window and thought how very odd the English smelt.
Murder for Christmas (1939)
She came in with coffee and biscuits at half-past eleven with her mouth pursed up very prunes and prisms, and would hardly speak to me.
Surprise! Surprise! (1965)
It was a very British and utterly unconvincing performance.
Death on the Nile (1937)
Men always tell such silly lies.
After the Funeral (1953)
That was the worst of Dr Reilly. You never knew whether he was joking or not. He always said things in the same slow melancholy way — but half the time there was a twinkle underneath it.
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
I'm used to that. It often seems to me that's all detective work is — wiping out your false starts and beginning again.
Death on the Nile (1937)
See you, my dear doctor, me, I am not one to rely upon the expert procedure. It is the psychology I seek, not the fingerprint or the cigarette ash.
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
“There’s no reason why women shouldn’t behave like rational beings,” said Simon stolidly.
Poirot said dryly:
“Quite frequently they do. That is even more upsetting!”
Death on the Nile (1937)
The quality of agreeableness Is not much stressed nowadays. People tend to ask if a man is clever, industrious, if he contributes to the well-being of the community, if he ‘counts’ in the scheme of things.
An Autobiography (1977)
Work, Mr. Burton. There's nothing like work, for men and women. The one unforgivable sin is idleness.
The Moving Finger (1942)
“Do you always travel first-class, Mr. Hardman?”
“Yes, sir. The firm pays my travelling expenses.”
He winked.
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
Plymouth, Gwenda thought, as she moved forward obediently in the queu for Passports and Customs, was probably not the best of England.
Sleeping Murder (1976)
Harold Waring, like many other Englishmen, was a bad linguist.
The Labours of Hercules (1967)
Exactly! It is absurd — improbable — it cannot be. So I myself have said. And yet, my friend, there it is! one cannot escape from the facts.
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
It's as easy to utter lies as truth.
Death Comes as the End (1945)
One forgets how human murderers are.
A Murder is Announced (1950)
I can imagine anything! That's the trouble with me. I can imagine things now — this minute. I could even make them sound all right, but of course none of them would be true.
Dead Man's Folly (1956)
“A dog,” said Mr. Baldock, in his lecture-room style, which was capable of rousing almost anybody to violent irritation, “has an extraordinary power of bolstering up the human ego.”
The Burden (1956)