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Words of Wisdom

Agatha Christie: Necessity is Not the Mother of Invention

"I don't think necessity is the mother of invention — invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble."

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a prolific writer of detective and mystery novels during the 20th century. The Guinness Book of World Records cites Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time with over 2 billion copies sold. Her play The Mousetrap also holds the record for the longest-running production of all time; it opened in London’s West End in 1952 and is still playing today after over 25,000 performances.


“I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention — invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.”

Source: An Autobiography (1977) Part III: Growing Up. Section II. (Via Wikiquote)


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