Quotes from Arthur Conan Doyle

One other thing, Lestrade," he added, turning round at the door: "'Rache,' is the German for 'revenge;' so don't lose your time looking for Miss Rachel." With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.

I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty.

Suddenly the dreamer disappeared, and Holmes, the man of action, sprang from his chair.

I would not tell them too much, said Holmes. Women are never to be entirely trusted,—not the best of them.

Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed?

That delicately bronzed skin, almost oriental in its coloring, that raven hair, the large liquid eyes, the full but exquisite lips,—all the stigmata of passion were there. But I was sadly conscious that up to now I had never found the secret of drawing it forth. However, come what might, I should have done with suspense and bring matters to a head tonight. She could but refuse me, and better be a repulsed lover than an accepted brother.

There have," said I, "been numerous petty thefts." Holmes snorted his contempt. "This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that," said he. "It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.

THE POWER OF detaching his mind at will.

A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.

I don't take much stock of detectives in novels - chaps that do things and never let you see how they do them. That's just inspiration: not business.

He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.

what I know is unofficial, what [the inspector] knows is official. I have the right to private judgment, but he has none.

To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. The sea air, sunshine, and patience, Watson—all else will come.

To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has better powers of observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking the exact and literal truth.

Nulla è piccolo per una grande mente, sentenziò Holmes.

No mention of that local hunt, Watson, said Holmes with a mischievous smile, but a country doctor, as you very astutely observed.

Punishment has been slow in coming, but it has overtaken you at last.

How long is this to last? asked the inspector finally. And what is it we are watching for? I have no more notion than you how long it is to last, Holmes answered with some asperity. If criminals would always schedule their movements like railway trains, it would certainly be more convenient for all of us.

Well, I'm a bacteriologist, you know. I live in a nine-hundred-diameter microscope. I can hardly claim to take serious notice of anything that I can see with my naked eye.

El mundo esta lleno de cosas evidentes en las que nadie se fija ni por casualidad

The authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage.

But no chain is stronger than its weakest link.

I have come for advice. - That is easily got. - And help. - That is not always so easy. #The Five Orange Pips

The statesman received us with that old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable, and seated us on the two luxuriant lounges on either side of the fireplace. Standing on the rug between us, with his slight, tall figure, his sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair prematurely tinged with gray, he seemed to represent that not too common type, a nobleman who is in truth noble.