Quotes About Evidence

But he was a man who could not make his reason subordinate to his feelings. If the evidence against his friend was strong enough to send his friend for trial, how should he dare to discredit the evidence because the man was his friend?

The doctor was accustomed to say that his goose was as good as any other man's goose, as far as he could see as yet; but that he should like some very strong evidence before he allowed himself to express an opinion that the young bird partook, in any degree, of the qualities of a swan. From which it may be gathered that Dr. Finn was a man of common-sense.

A secretor is somebody whose blood type appears in his or her body fluids as well as in the blood itself—handy if all you've got is a sweaty shirt or, as in this case, semen. A nonsecretor's blood type can only be ascertained through the blood.

De verdad crees en los dioses? —Yo sí. —¿En qué te basas? —En que me aborrecen. ¿No es un indicio verosímil?

I have spoken, you have heard, you have the facts, judge

Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware, the nonexistence of Zeus or Thor, but they have few followers now.

The evidence is confused with mysticism—perhaps the prime aberration of the human mind.

When this book was written in the early 1950s, I was still quite impressed by the evidence for what is generally called the paranormal, and used it as a main theme of the story. Four decades later, after spending some millions of dollars of Yorkshire Television's money researching my Mysterious World and Strange Powers programmes, I am an almost total skeptic. I have seen far too many claims dissolve into thin air, far too many demonstrations exposed as fakes.

Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing. It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Homes

When once your point of view is changed, the very thing which was so damning becomes a clue to the truth.

He said that there were no traces upon the ground round the body. He did not observe any. but I did - some little distance off, but fresh and clear Footprints? Footprints. A man's or a woman's? Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered: Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of s gigantic hound!

Have you tried to drive a harpoon through a body? No? Tut, tut, my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details.

Never theorize before you have data.Invariably you end up twisting facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts. -Sherlock holmes

No ghosts need apply. - Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire

I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data.

WATSON: Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation.      HOLMES: if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct, and we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature, there is an end of our investigation. But we are bound to exhaust all other hypotheses before falling back upon this one.

There were no footmarks.' 'Meaning that you saw none?' 'I assure you, sir, that there were none.' 'My good Hopkins, I have investigated many crimes, but I have never yet seen one which was committed by a flying creature. As long as the criminal remains upon two legs so long must there be some indentation, some abrasion, some trifling displacement which can be detected by the scientific searcher.

The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.

Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgement.

Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.

Then, how do you know?" "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?" "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago.