Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)

by Agatha Christie

“I can’t help thinking,” said Ariadne Oliver, “that girls are really very silly nowadays.” “Don’t you think they always were?” asked Rowena Drake. Mrs. Oliver considered.

“Aha,” said Hercule Poirot, “you know me. That is gratifying.” “May your moustaches never grow less,” said Spence.

“Old sins have long shadows,” quoted Poirot. “As we advance through life, we learn the truth of that saying.

“There is always a brave new world,” said Poirot, “but only, you know, for very special people. The lucky ones. The ones who carry the making of that world within themselves.”

“The past is the father of the present,” said Poirot sententiously.

“Well,” said Poirot, “you’ve certainly given me something to think about.”

But to everything that happens there has to be a past. A past which is by now incorporated in today, but which existed yesterday or last month or last year. The present is nearly always rooted in the past.

It is always difficult to know if you like anyone beautiful. You like beauty to look at, at the same time you dislike beauty almost on principle.