Quote of the day by Agatha Christie: 'Love can be a very frightening thing. That is why most great love stories are tragedies...' Deep love lessons on relationships, heartbreaks, emotional strength, vulnerability and accepting life’s uncertainties by the legendary writer

Love is often called comfortable, joyful, and transformative but English author Agatha Christie had a very different take on it. She had stated that love can also be frightening because of how much a person can lose when emotions become deeply involved. The idea was put into the mouth of one of her most famous fictional detectives, Hercule Poirot, by the celebrated writer. In Christie’s 1937 mystery novel Death on the Nile, Poirot says: “Love can be a very frightening thing. That is why most great love stories are tragedies.”

What’s interesting about the quote is that it doesn’t treat love as a happy ending but as an emotion that can carry fear, vulnerability and the possibility of loss.

What does Agatha Christie's quote of the day mean?

The quote implies that the greatest love stories don’t always have happy endings. The depth of love can make the consequences of loss that much greater, instead.


The first part ‘Love can be a very frightening thing’ – is drawing attention to the vulnerability that is associated with caring about another person a great deal. When love matters, so can the possibility of separation, betrayal or heartache.

Then Poirot links that fear to the stories that people remember most. The quote states that many great love stories end in tragedy because the feelings themselves are too powerful.

It is an idea that naturally fits into a mystery novel such as Death on the Nile, where the relationships and human emotions are part of the story surrounding Poirot.

The quote is from Death on the Nile.

Christie wrote Death on the Nile in 1937, and the book was published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1937. The story takes place on a steamer travelling down the River Nile in Egypt, and Hercule Poirot is one of the characters.

This is said by Poirot in the novel because it’s not something Christie said herself as a personal statement, but a line she gave to one of her most famous fictional characters. The words were written by Christie, but it is Poirot that makes the observation within the novel.

Agatha Christie, the writer of Poirot

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (later Agatha Christie) was born on 15 September 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England.

She began writing stories as a child and grew up to become one of the world’s most famous mystery writers. Her first mystery novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introduced Hercule Poirot. It was published in 1920 and was the beginning of a long literary life for the Belgian detective.

Poirot would be seen in 25 more novels over the next quarter century. In 1930 Christie also created Miss Marple, another of her most famous fictional detectives.

Christie’s writing career was much wider than detective fiction. She wrote about 80 novels, many short stories and over 25 plays, as well as six romance novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott.

A writer whose life was filled with mysteries

Christie’s life was also peppered with incidents that attracted much public notice. Following her mother’s death and the collapse of her first marriage, she experienced a period of emotional turmoil.

In 1926, Christie disappeared for 11 days, shortly after her husband, Archibald Christie, announced he planned to divorce her. Her disappearance triggered a massive manhunt and remains one of the enduring mysteries of her life.

In 1930 she married the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, and accompanied him on expeditions to the Middle East, where some of her novels are set.

Christie continued to enjoy great success throughout her career. Her books have sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, making her one of the most widely read fiction writers in history.