Quotes from Arthur Conan Doyle

By all means. The first three sensible words that you have uttered since you entered this room, Watson

Let me run over the principal steps. We approached the case, you remember, with an absolutely blank mind, which is always an advantage. We had formed no theories. We were simply there to observe and to draw inferences from our observations.

In rapid succession we passed through the fringe of fashionable London, hotel London, theatrical London, literary London, commercial London, and, finally, maritime London

I believe you are a wizard, Mr. Holmes.

That mysterious change is too subtle and too gradual to be measured by dates. Least of all does the maiden herself know it until the tone of a voice or the touch of a hand sets her heart thrilling within her, and she learns, with a mixture of pride and of fear, that a new and a larger nature has awoke within her. There are few who cannot recall that day and remember the one little incident which heralded the dawn of a new life.

Pray give my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear fellow, Very sincerely yours, SHERLOCK HOLMES.

Singularity is almost invariably a clue.

Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence," I remarked. "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged.

I'm not sure about whether I shall go. I am the most incurably lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather--that is, when the fit is on me, for I can be spry enough at times.

It would be superfluous to drive us mad, my dear Watson, said he. A candid observer would certainly declare that we were so already before we embarked upon so wild an experiment.

and meanwhile take my assurance that the clouds are lifting and that I have every hope that the light of truth is breaking through

The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.

I think Mr. Holmes had not quite got over his illness yet. He's been behaving very queerly, and he is very much excited." "I don't think you need alarm yourself," said I. "I have usually found that there was method in his madness." "Some folks might say there was madness in his method," muttered the Inspector.

My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition. "At present I cannot spare energy and nerve force for digestion," he would say in answer to my medical remonstrance.

I would not tell them too much, said Holmes. Women are never to be entirely trusted,—not the best of them. I did not pause to argue over this atrocious sentiment. I

The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact—of absolute undeniable fact—from the embellishments of theorists and reporters.

There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically.

No se fíe nunca de las impresiones generales, amigo mío, y concéntrese en los detalles.»

Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the grass grow under his feet.

I have heard your reasons and regard them as unconvincing and inadequate.

The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow. Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloudbank. The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim. There have been numerous petty thefts. This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that. It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.

The vegetable kingdom still remains one of the few which Napoleon has not yet conquered.

When will you be pleased to dine, Mr. Holmes?' Mrs. Hudson asked. 'Seven-thirty, the day after to-morrow' said he.

Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches one where to look and what to look for.