Quotes by
Arthur Conan Doyle |
1859-1930 , British writer
Scottish writer and physician, best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes (created in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet) one of the most enduring characters in English fiction. | 35 quotes | 640 visits |
Quotations
| • | When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. 4 |
| • | It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes. 4 |
| • | It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. 3 |
| • | There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. 2 |
| • | The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes. 1 |
| • | Healthy scepticism is the basis of all accurate observation. 1 |
| • | Skill is fine, and genius is splendid, but the right contacts are more valuable than either. 1 |
| • | The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods. 1 |
| • | To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. 1 |
| • | There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman. 1 |
| • | You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion. |
| • | The unexpected has happened so continually in my life that it has ceased to deserve the name. |
| • | The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless. |
| • | Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius. |
| • | Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last. |
| • | My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people do not know. |
| • | The most dangerous condition for a man or a nation is when his intellectual side is more developed than his spiritual. |
| • | Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. |
| • | A fine thought in fine language is a most precious jewel, and should not be hid away, but be exposed for use and ornament. |
| • | A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones. |
| • | Any truth is better than indefinite doubt. |
| • | There is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle reek which comes from an ancient book. |
| • | I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. 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. |
| • | You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles. |
| • | I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix. |
| • | Do you know anything on earth which has not a dangerous side if it is mishandled and exaggerated? |
| • | There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you. |
| • | Anything seems commonplace, once explained. |
| • | What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done. |
| • | It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. |
| • | “It’s quite exciting,” said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn. |
| • | Where there is no imagination, there is no horror. |
| • | The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive. |
| • | I never can resist a touch of the dramatic. |
| • | Every man finds his limitations, Mr. Holmes, but at least it cures us of the weakness of self-satisfaction. |
