Monday, October 26, 2009

Miss Marple on Intuition

"You're laughing, my dear," said Miss Marple, "but after all, that is a very sound way of arriving at the truth. It's really what people call intuition and make such a fuss about. Intuition is like reading a word without having to spell it out. A child can't do that because it has had so little experience. A grown-up person knows the word because they've seen it often before. You catch my meaning, vicar?"

"Yes," I said slowly, "I think I do. You mean that if a thing reminds you of something else--well, it's probably the same kind of thing."

"Exactly."


Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage. Collins (Glasgow, 1977) p. 65.