Quotes from Arthur Conan Doyle

Very sorry to knock you up, Watson,' said he [Holmes], 'but it is a common lot this morning. Mrs Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, and I on you.

here at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers which, like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use. That razor brain blunted and rusted with inaction.

He has considerable gifts himself. He possesses two out of the three qualities necessary for the ideal detective. He has the power of observation and that of deduction. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time.

It was amusing to me to see how the detective's overbearing manner had changed suddenly to that of a child asking questions of its teacher.

We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence.

The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may mean everything

Wir sind gewohnt dass die Menschen verhohnen was sie nicht verstehen.

The country inspector's face had shown his intense amazement at the rapid and masterful progress of Holmes' investigation. At first he had shown some disposition to assert his own position, but now he was overcome with admiration, and ready to follow without question wherever Holmes lead.

Es un error confundir lo extraordinario con lo misterioso. El más vulgar de los crímenes es, con frecuencia, el más misterioso porque no ofrece rasgos especiales de los que puedan hacerse deducciones.

Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.

for it is only when a man goes out into the world with the thought that there are heroisms all round him, and with the desire all alive in his heart to follow any which may come within sight of him, that he breaks away as I did from the life he knows, and ventures forth into the wonderful mystic twilight land where lie the great adventures and the great rewards.

Holmes," I cried, "this is impossible." "Admirable!" he said. "A most illuminating remark. It IS impossible as I state it, and therefore I must in some respect have stated it wrong.

It is not easy to express the inexpressible

Well Holmes, I murmured, have you found anything out? He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined towards me. I say, Watson, he whispered, would you be afraid to sleep in the same room with a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip? Not in the least, I answered in astonishment. Ah, that's lucky, he said, and not another word would he utter that night.

This case deserves to be a classic.

I have come for advice. That is easily got. And help. That is not always so easy.

I am an Irishman, sir. Irish Irish? Yes, sir.

The note was undated, and without either signature or address.

You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains for you? For me, said Sherlock Holmes, there still remains the cocaine-bottle. And he stretched his long white hand up for it.

deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated.

His knowledge was greater than his wisdom, and his powers were far superior to his character.

Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be both physical and spiritual.

And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of

It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of being concentrated.