"

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data.

"

When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals.

"

The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when [Holmes] became a specialist in crime.

"

It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.

"

The devil’s agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?

"

The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.

"

He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city, He is a genius,...more

"

I do not know whether it came from his own innate depravity or from the promptings of his master, but he was rude enough to set a dog at me. Neither d...more

"

The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.

"

It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious because it presents no new or special fe...more

"

There are no crimes and no criminals in these days. What is the use of having brains in our profession? I know well that I have it in me to make my na...more

"

Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with reference to my own s...more

"

Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus...more