Arthur Conan Doyle Quotes

British writer and physician (1859–1930)

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Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (May 22 1859 – July 7 1930) was a British writer and physician, most famous as the creator of the character Sherlock Holmes.

Bio from: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Birth Name: Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

Native Name: Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

Alternative Names: Sir A. Conan Doyle • Arthur Conan, Sir Doyle • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle • Conan Doyle

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There are some trees, Watson, which grow to a certain height, and then suddenly develop some unsightly eccentricity. You will see it often in humans.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes...was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night.

If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you.

One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide against it.
-Sherlock Holmes

Over the green squares of the fields and the low curves of a wood there rose in the distance a grey, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance like some fantastic landscape in a dream. Baskerville sat for a long time, his gaze fixed upon it, and I read upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of that strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long and left their mark so deep.

Now, Watson,' said Holmes, (...) 'you'll come with me, won't you?'
'If I can be of use.'
'Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use. And a chronicler still more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one.'
(...)
'You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,' said he. 'It makes you quite invaluable as a companion. Pon my word, it is a great thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are not over-pleasant.

The public, not unnaturally, goes upon the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole.

Exactly, Watson. Pathetic and futile. But is not all life pathetic and futile? Is not his story a microcosm of the whole? We reach. We grasp. And what is left in our hands at the end? A shadow. Or worse than a shadow - misery.

The main thing with people of that sort is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. If you do, they will instantly shut up like an oyster. If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely to get what you want.

We can’t command our love, but we can our actions.

All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience.

...to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.

Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.

A strange enigma is man

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