| | "London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained." |
| | "Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems." |
| | "The theories which I have expressed there, and which appear to you to be so chimerical, are really extremely practical — so practical that I depend upon them for my bread and cheese." |
| | "It was easier to know it than to explain why I know it. If you were asked to prove that two and two made four, you might find some difficulty, and yet you are quite sure of the fact." |
| | “It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment." |
| | "They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains," he remarked with a smile. "It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work." |
| | "What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence,” returned my companion, bitterly. “The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done?" |
| | "There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps." |
| | "Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth." |
| | "I never guess. It is a shocking habit – destructive to the logical faculty." |
| | “I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.” |
| | “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” |
| | "On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside." |
| | "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear." |
| | "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." |
| | "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life." |
| | “It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.” |
| | "Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent." |
| | "There is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." |
| | "The little things are infinitely the most important." |
| | "Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home." |
| | "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles." |
| | "The observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after." |
| | “It is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this, I have endeavoured in my case to do.” |
| | "It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles." |
| | "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences." |
| | "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know." |
| | Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another. |
| | “It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” |
| | "Data! Data! Data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." |
| | “The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” |
| | "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they seem to you to be relevant or not." |
| | “Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.” |
| | “It is more than possible; it is probable.” |
| | “That is the case as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is, all other explanations are more improbable still.” |
| | "Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?" |
| | "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." |
| | "The dog did nothing in the night-time." |
| | "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
| | “Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.” |
| | "Results without causes are much more impressive." |
| | "Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic." |
| | “He is the Napoleon of crime”. |
| | “Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!” |
| | "We balance probabilities and choose the most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination." |
| | "There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you." |
| | "There is no prospect of danger, or I should not dream of stirring out without you." |
| | "What one man can invent another can discover." |
| | "So you can put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!" |
| | “It is impossible as I state it, and therefore I must in some respect have stated it wrong.” |
| | "There can be no question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast." |
| | "One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide against it. It is the first rule of criminal investigation." |
| | "Let us hear the suspicions. I will look after the proofs." |
| | "There is so much red tape in these matters." |
| | "Come, Watson, come!" he cried. "The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!" |
| | "What I know is unofficial; what he knows is official." |
| | "Only one important thing has happened in the last three days, and that is that nothing has happened." |
| | Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius. |
| | "There should be no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation." |
| | "There is but one step from the grotesque to the horrible." |
| | "There is no part of the body which varies so much as the human ear." |
| | "Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last." |
| | It was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carry through the dim, fog-draped streets. |
| | “We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” |
| | "Think of Mycroft's note, of the Admiralty, the Cabinet, the exalted person who waits for news. We are bound to go." |
| | My answer was to rise from the table. |
| | "You are right, Holmes. We are bound to go." |
| | "Malingering is a subject upon which I have sometimes thought of writing a monograph." |
| | “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” |
| | "I am not the law, but I represent justice so far as my feeble powers go." |
| | "In my profession all sorts of odd knowledge comes useful, and this room of yours is a storehouse of it." |
| | "Well, Watson, we can but possess our souls in patience and see what the hour may bring." |
| | "We must look for consistency. Where there is a want of it we must suspect deception." |
| | “We can but try.” |
| | "Come at once if convenient - if inconvenient come all the same." |
| | That the dog should die was after the beautiful, faithful nature of dogs. |
| | "I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles." |
| | "Dogs don't make mistakes." |
| | "Cut out the poetry, Watson." |
| | "Things must be done decently and in order." |