Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot, #25)

by Agatha Christie

“You are making up your mind, are you not, whether I am a mere mountebank, or the man you need?”

“Do you not realize that amongst every one’s ancestors there has been violence and evil?”

Youth is so vulnerable. It is so ruthless—so sure. So generous and so demanding.”

“A lot of additional pain and grief is caused by honesty,” remarked Hercule Poirot.

The French understand these things—some of their tisanes are first rate.”

“What do most people mean when they say that? So young. Something innocent, something appealing, something helpless. But youth is not that! Youth is crude, youth is strong, youth is powerful—yes, and cruel! And one thing more—youth is vulnerable.”

The best thing for a child, I am convinced, is to have what I should term healthy neglect on the part of both its parents. This happens naturally enough in the case of a large family of children and very little money. They are overlooked because the mother has literally no time to occupy herself with them. They realize quite well that she is fond of them, but they are not worried by too many manifestations of the fact.

There are people to whom agreement is monotony. They require the stimulant of dissension to create drama in their lives.”