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There Is No Scent So Pleasant To My Nostrils As That Faint, Subtle Reek Which Comes From An Ancient Book.
-Arthur Conan Doyle
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There Is No Scent

Arthur Conan Doyle
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There Is No Scent So Pleasant To My Nostrils As That Faint, Subtle Reek Which Comes From An Ancient Book.

Understanding the Quote: "there is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint,..."

This quote by Arthur Conan Doyle reflects deeply on the theme of book. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Book, Scent, Ancient, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Arthur Conan Doyle interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle is celebrated for insightful thoughts on book and scent. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Book
Scent
Ancient
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There Is Nothing More Stimulating Than A Case Where Everything Goes Against You.
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One Forms Provisional Theories And Waits For Time Or Fuller Knowledge To Explode Them. A Bad Habit, Mr. Ferguson, But Human Nature Is Weak. Sherlock Holmes Speaking With Dr. Watson.
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There Are Always Some Lunatics About. It Would Be A Dull World Without Them.
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The Most Dangerous Condition For A Man Or A Nation Is When His Intellectual Side Is More Developed Than His Spiritual. Is That Not Exactly The Condition Of The World Today?
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He Had Never Seen A Woman Doctor Before, And His Whole Conservative Soul Rose Up In Revolt At The Idea. He Could Not Recall Any Biblical Injunction That The Man Should Remain Ever The Doctor And The Woman The Nurse, And Yet He Felt As If A Blasphemy Had Been Committed.
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Draw Your Chair Up, And Hand Me My Violin, For The Only Problem Which We Have Still To Solve Is How To While Away These Bleak Autumnal Evenings.
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Sherlock Holmes Took His Bottle From The Corner Of The Mantel-piece, And His Hypodermic Syringe From Its Neat Morocco Case. With His Long, White, Nervous Fingers He Adjusted The Delicate Needle, And Rolled Back His Left Shirt-cuff. For Some Little Time His Eyes Rested Thoughtfully Upon The Sinewy Forearm And Wrist, All Dotted And Scarred With Innumerable Puncture-marks. Finally, He Thrust The Sharp Point Home, Pressed Down The Tiny Piston, And Sank Back Into The Velvet-lined Armchair With A Long Sigh Of Satisfaction.
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There Are No Fools So Troublesome As Those Who Have Some Wit.
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Life, My Dear Watson, Is Infinitely Stranger Than Fiction; Stranger Than Anything Which The Mind Of Man Could Invent. We Could Not Conceive The Things That Are Merely Commonplace To Existence. If We Could Hover Over This Great City, Remove The Roofs, And Peep In At The Things Going On, It Would Make All Fiction, With Its Conventionalities And Foreseen Conclusions Flat, Stale And Unprofitable.
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No Violence, Gentlemen — No Violence, I Beg Of You! Consider The Furniture!
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Skill Is Fine, And Genius Is Splendid, But The Right Contacts Are More Valuable Than Either.
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The Whole Force Of The State Is At Your Back If You Should Need It. I'm Afraid That All The Queen's Horses And All The Queen's Men Cannot Avail In This Matter.
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There Is Nothing Like First-hand Evidence.
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For The One And Only Time I Caught A Glimpse Of A Great Heart As Well As Of A Great Brain.
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Your Life Is Not Your Own. Keep Your Hands Off It.
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I Can Never Bring You To Realize The Importance Of Sleeves, The Suggestiveness Of Thumb-nails, Or The Great Issues That May Hang From A Boot-lace.
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London, That Great Cesspool Into Which All The Loungers And Idlers Of The Empire Are Irresistibly Drained.
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There Is But One Step From The Grotesque To The Horrible.
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It Is More Than Possible; It Is Probable.
The Setting Is A Worthy One, If The Devil Did Desire To Have A Hand In The Affairs Of Men.
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If The Man Who Observes The Myriad Stars, And Considers That They And Their Innumerable Satellites Move In Their Serene Dignity Through The Heavens, Each Swinging Clear Of The Other's Orbit-if, I Say, The Man Who Sees This Cannot Realise The Creator's Attributes Without The Help Of The Book Of Job, Then His View Of Things Is Beyond My Understanding.
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There Is Nothing In Which Deduction Is So Necessary As In Religion," Said He, Leaning With His Back Against The Shutters. "it Can Be Built Up As An Exact Science By The Reasoner. Our Highest Assurance Of The Goodness Of Providence Seems To Me To Rest In The Flowers. All Other Things, Our Powers, Our Desires, Our Food, Are All Really Necessary For Our Existence In The First Instance. But This Rose Is An Extra. Its Smell And Its Colour Are An Embellishment Of Life, Not A Condition Of It. It Is Only Goodness Which Gives Extras, And So I Say Again That We Have Much To Hope From The Flowers.
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My Uncle, Mr. Stephen Maple, Had Been At The Same Time The Most Successful And The Least Respectable Of Our Family, So That We Hardly Knew Whether To Take Credit For His Wealth Or To Feel Ashamed Of His Position.
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The Husband Was A Teetotaller, There Was No Other Woman, And The Conduct Complained Of Was That He Had Drifted Into The Habit Of Winding Up Every Meal By Taking Out His False Teeth And Hurling Them At His Wife.
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He [professor Moriarty] 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, A Philosopher, An Abstract Thinker. He Has A Brain Of The First Order.
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"i Can See Nothing," Said I, Handing It Back To My Friend. "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."
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The Grand Thing Is To Be Able To Reason Backwards.
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Have You Tried To Drive A Harpoon Through A Body? No? Tut, Tut, My Dear Sir, You Must Really Pay Attention To These Details.
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I Carry My Own Church About Under My Own Hat," Said I. "bricks And Mortar Won't Make A Staircase To Heaven. I Believe With Your Master That The Human Heart Is The Best Temple.
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It Is Not My Intention To Be Fulsome, But I Confess That I Covet Your Skull.
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To A Great Mind, Nothing Is Little,' Remarked Holmes, Sententiously.
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‎a Change Of Work Is The Best Rest.
Now Is The Dramatic Moment Of Fate, Watson, When You Hear A Step Upon The Stair Which Is Walking Into Your Life, And You Know Not Whether For Good Or Ill.
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It Is A Pity He Did Not Write In Pencil. As You Have No Doubt Frequently Observed, The Impression Usually Goes Through -- A Fact Which Has Dissolved Many A Happy Marriage.
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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.
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Nothing Clears Up A Case So Much As Stating It To Another Person.
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So All Life Is A Great Chain, The Nature Of Which Is Known Whenever We Are Shown A Link Of It.
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Nature Is The True Revelation Of The Deity To Man. The Nearest Green Field Is The Inspired Page From Which You May Read All That It Is Needful For You To Know.
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I Could Not Rest, Watson, I Could Not Sit Quiet In My Chair, If I Thought That Such A Man As Professor Moriarty Were Walking The Streets Of London Unchallenged.
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I Have Already Explained To You That What Is Out Of The Common Is Usually A Guide Rather Than A Hindrance.
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One Dumb-bell, Watson! Consider An Athlete With One Dumb-bell. Picture To Yourself The Unilateral Development - The Imminent Danger Of A Spinal Curvature. Shocking, Watson, Shocking!
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I Cannot Live Without Brainwork. What Else Is There To Live For
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Three Quiet Days. This Hell Fiend Is Like A Cat With A Mouse. She Lets Me Loose Only To Pounce Upon Me Again. I Am Never So Frightened As When Every Thing Is Still.
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Education Never Ends, Watson. It Is A Series Of Lessons, With The Greatest For The Last.
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My Dear Watson," Said [sherlock Holmes], "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.
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[sherlock Holmes:] The Temptation To Form Premature Theories Upon Insufficient Data Is The Bane Of Our Profession.
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I Am Not The Law, But I Represent Justice So Far As My Feeble Powers Go.
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I Have Mastered The Principles Of Several Religions. They Have All Shocked Me By The Violence Which I Should Have To Do To My Reason To Accept The Dogmas Of Any One Of Them.
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There Is No Scent So Pleasant To My Nostrils As That Faint, Subtle Reek Which Comes From An Ancient Book.
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Philosophy, Astronomy, And Politics Were Marked At Zero, I Remember. Botany Variable, Geology Profound As Regards The Mud Stains From Any Region Within Fifty Miles Of Town, Chemistry Eccentric, Anatomy Unsystematic, Sensational Literature And Crime Records Unique, Violin Player, Boxer, Swordsman, Lawyer, And Self-poisoner By Cocaine And Tobacco.
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There Is A Mystery About This Which Stimulates The Imagination; Where There Is No Imagination There Is No Horror.
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Amberley Excelled At Chess - A Mark, Watson, Of A Scheming Mind.
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It Is Quite A Three-pipe Problem.
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By A Man's Finger-nails, By His Coat-sleeve, By His Boots, By His Trouser-knees, By The Callosities Of His Forefinger And Thumb, By His Expression, By His Shirt-cuff — By Each Of These Things A Man's Calling Is Plainly Revealed. That All United Should Fail To Enlighten The Competent Inquirer In Any Case Is Almost Inconceivable. You Know That A Conjurer Gets No Credit When Once He Has Explained His Trick; And If I Show You Too Much Of My Method Of Working, You Will Come To The Conclusion That I Am A Very Ordinary Individual After All.
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Well, Sir, Let Us Do What We Can To Curtail This Visit, Which Can Hardly Be Agreeable To You, And Is Inexpressibly Irksome To Me.
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You Will Ruin No More Lives As You Ruined Mine. You Will Wring No More Hearts As You Wrung Mine. I Will Free The World Of A Poisonous Thing. Take That, You Hound, And That! - And That! - And That! - And That!
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You Never Tire Of The Moor. You Cannot Think The Wonderful Secrets Which It Contains. It Is So Vast, And So Barren, And So Mysterious.
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His Neighbor Is A Tooth-drawer. That Bag At His Girdle Is Full Of The Teeth That He Drew At Winchester Fair. I Warrant That There Are More Sound Ones Than Sorry, For He Is Quick At His Work And A Trifle Dim In The Eye.
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A Hound It Was, An Enormous Coal-black Hound, But Not Such A Hound As Mortal Eyes Have Ever Seen. Fire Burst From Its Open Mouth, Its Eyes Glowed With A Smouldering Glare, Its Muzzle And Hackles And Dewlap Were Outlined In Flickering Flame. Never In The Delirious Dream Of A Disordered Brain Could Anything More Savage, More Appalling, More Hellish Be Conceived Than That Dark Form And Savage Face Which Broke Upon Us Out Of The Wall Of Fog.
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Several Incidents In My Life Have Convinced Me Of Spiritual Interposition - Of The Promptings Of Some Beneficent Force Outside Ourselves, Which Tries To Help Us Where It Can.
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His Incredible Untidiness, His Addiction To Music At Strange Hours, His Occasional Revolver Practice Within Doors, His Weird And Often Malodorous Scientific Experiments, And The Atmosphere Of Violence And Danger Which Hung Around Him Made Him The Very Worst Tenant In London.
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Evil Indeed Is The Man Who Has Not One Woman To Mourn Him.
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...holmes, Who Loathed Every Form Of Society With His Whole Bohemian Soul, Remained In Our Lodgings In Baker Street, Buried Among His Old Books, And Alternating From Week To Week Between Cocaine And Ambition, The Drowsiness Of The Drug, And The Fierce Energy Of His Own Keen Nature.
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Now, Watson,” Said Holmes, As A Tall Dog-cart Dashed Up Through The Gloom, Throwing Out Two Golden Tunnels Of Yellow Light From Its Side Lanterns. “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.
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If You Had Killed Watson, You Would Not Have Got Out Of This Room Alive.
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“how Ever Did You See That?” “because I Looked For It.”
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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.
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Goresthorpe Grange Is A Feudal Mansion - Or So It Was Termed In The Advertisement Which Originally Brought It Under My Notice. Its Right To This Adjective Had A Most Remarkable Effect Upon Its Price, And The Advantages Gained May Possibly Be More Sentimental Than Real. Still, It Is Soothing To Me To Know That I Have Slits In My Staircase Through Which I Can Discharge Arrows; And There Is A Sense Of Power In The Fact Of Possessing A Complicated Apparatus By Means Of Which I Am Enabled To Pour Molten Lead Upon The Head Of The Casual Visitor.
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The Larger Crimes Are Apt To Be The Simpler, For The Bigger The Crime, The More Obvious, As A Rule, Is The Motive.
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To The Man Who Loves Art For Its Own Sake, It Is Frequently In Its Least Important And Lowliest Manifestations That The Keenest Pleasure Is To Be Derived.
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"i Have Seen Those Symptoms Before," Said Holmes, Throwing His Cigarette Into The Fire. "oscillation Upon The Pavement Always Means An Affaire De Coeur."
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Was It Hardness, Was It Selfishness, That She Should Ask Me To Risk My Life For Her Own Glorification? Such Thoughts May Come To Middle Age; But Never To Ardent Three-and-twenty In The Fever Of His First Love.
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At The Moment Our Human World Is Based On The Suffering And Destruction Of Millions Of Non-humans. To Perceive This And To Do Something To Change It In Personal And Public Ways Is To Undergo A Change Of Perception Akin To A Religious Conversion. Nothing Can Ever Be Seen In Quite The Same Way Again Because Once You Have Admitted The Terror And Pain Of Other Species You Will, Unless You Resist Conversion, Be Always Aware Of The Endless Permutations Of Suffering That Support Our Society.
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A Man Always Finds It Hard To Realize That He May Have Finally Lost A Woman's Love, However Badly He May Have Treated Her.
Men
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Realizing
When Such Men, Who Are Beyond Hope And Fear, Begin In Their Dim Minds To See The Source Their Woes, It May Be An Evil Time For Those Who Have Wronged Them. The Weak Man Becomes Strong When He Has Nothing, For Then Only Can He Feel The Wild, Mad Thrill Of Despair.
Strong
Men
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And Once Again Mr. Sherlock Holmes Is Free To Devote His Life To Examining Those Interesting Little Problems Which The Complexity Of Human Life So Pletifuly Presents.
Life
Interesting
Littles
It Is Horrible, Yet Fascinating, This Struggle Between A Set Purpose And An Utterly Exhausted Frame.
Struggle
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The Lowest And Vilest Alleys Of London Do Not Present A More Dreadful Record Of Sin Than Does The Smiling And Beautiful Countryside.
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Doe
Holy Men! Holy Cabbages! Holy Bean Pods! What Do They Do But Live And Suck In Sustenance And Grow Fat?
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Cabbage
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How Sweet The Morning Air Is! ...how Small We Feel With Our Petty Ambitions And Strivings In The Presence Of The Great Elemental Forces Of Nature!
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Morning
Ambition
He Seems To Have Declared War On The King’s English As Well As On The English King.
Kings
War
Wells
The Man Might Have Died In A Fit; But Then The Jewels Are Missing," Mused The Inspector, "ha! I Have A Theory. These Flashes Come Upon Me At Times... What Do You Think Of This, Holmes? Sholto Was, On His Own Confession, With His Brother Last Night. The Brother Died In A Fit, On Which Sholto Walked Off The Treasure! How's That?" "on Which The Dead Man Very Considerately Got Up And Locked The Door On The Inside," Said Holmes.
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Thinking
Night
It Was All Love On My Side, And All Good Comradeship And Friendship On Hers. When We Parted She Was A Free Woman, But I Could Never Again Be A Free Man.
Memorable
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Men
Yet Birth, And Lust, And Illness, And Death Are Changeless Things, And When One Of These Harsh Facts Springs Out Upon A Man At Some Sudden Turn Of The Path Of Life, It Dashes Off For The Moment His Mask Of Civilization And Gives A Glimpse Of The Stranger And Stronger Face Below.
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Men
Civilization
I Had Hardly Expected So Dolichocephalic A Skull Or Such Well-marked Supra-orbital Development. Would You Have Any Objection To My Running My Finger Along Your Parietal Fissure? A Cast Of Your Skull, Sir, Until The Original Is Available, Would Be An Ornament To Any Anthropological Museum. It Is Not My Intention To Be Fulsome, But I Confess That I Covet Your Skull.
Running
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Museums
Well, I'm A Bacteriologist, You Know. I Live In A Nine-hundred-diameter Microscope. I Can Hardly Claim To Take Serious Notice Of Anything That I Can See With My Naked Eye.
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Sarcasm
Watson. Come At Once If Convenient. If Inconvenient, Come All The Same.
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There Is A Soul-jealousy That Can Be As Frantic As Any Body-jealousy.
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Body
Frantic
I Said That He Was My Superior In Observation And Deduction. If The Art Of The Detective Began And Ended In Reasoning From An Armchair, My Brother Would Be The Greatest Criminal Agent That Ever Lived. But He Has No Ambition And No Energy. He Will Not Even Go Out Of His Way To Verify His Own Solutions, And Would Rather Be Considered Wrong Than Take The Trouble To Prove Himself Right.
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Brother
Book
It Isn't True That The Laws Of Nature Have Been Capriciously Disturbed; That Snakes Have Talked; That Women Have Been Turned Into Salt; That Rods Have Brought Water Out Of Rocks.
Rocks
Law
Snakes
You Mentioned Your Name As If I Should Recognize It, But Beyond The Obvious Facts That You Are A Bachelor, A Solicitor, A Freemason, And An Asthmatic, I Know Nothing Whatever About You.
Book
Names
Facts
I Say, Watson,’ He Whispered, ‘would You Be Afraid To Sleep In The Same Room As A Lunatic, A Man With Softening Of The Brain, An Idiot Whose Mind Has Lost Its Grip?’ ‘not In The Least,’ I Answered In Astonishment. ‘ah, That’s Lucky,’ He Said, And Not Another Word Would He Utter That Night.
Sleep
Night
Men
Data!data!data!" He Cried Impatiently. "i Can't Make Bricks Without Clay.
Data
Clay
Bricks
Of All Ruins, That Of A Noble Mind Is The Most Deplorable.
Mind
Noble
Ruins
...while The Individual Man Is An Insoluble Puzzle, In The Aggregate He Becomes A Mathematical Certainty.
Men
Statistics
Individual
It's Quite Exciting," Said Sherlock Holmes, With A Yawn.
Holmes
Said
Exciting
"recognising, As I Do, That You Are The Second Highest Expert In Europe" "indeed, Sir! May I Inquire Who Has The Honour To Be The First?" Asked Holmes, With Some Asperity. "to The Man Of Precised, Scientific Mind The Work Of Monsieur Bertillon Must Always Appeal Strongly." "then Had You Not Better Consult Him?" "i Said, Sir, To The Precisely Scientific Mind. But As A Practical Man Of Affairs It Is Acknowledged That You Stand Alone. I Trust, Sir, That I Have Not Inadvertently--" "just A Little," Said Holmes.
Men
Europe
Mind
I Trust That Age Doth Not Wither Nor Custom Stale My Infinite Variety.
Humorous
Sarcasm
Age
Picnics Are Very Dear To Those Who Are In The First Stage Of The Tender Passion.
Passion
Picnics
Firsts
Steel True, Blade Straight *in 1955, Doyle's Family Sold Windlesham, Which Was Turned Into A Hotel. The Bodies Of Conan Doyle And His Wife, Jean, Were Moved To A Grave At Minstead Churchyard, Hampshire.
Family
Wife
Steel
You Will Remember That I Remarked The Other Day, Just Before We Went Into The Very Simple Problem Presented By Miss Mary Sutherland, That For Strange Effects And Extraordinary Combinations We Must Go To Life Itself, Which Is Always Far More Daring Than Any Effort Of The Imagination.” “a Proposition Which I Took The Liberty Of Doubting.” “you Did, Doctor, But None The Less You Must Come Round To My View, For Otherwise I Shall Keep On Piling Fact Upon Fact On You Until Your Reason Breaks Down Under Them And Acknowledges Me To Be Right.
Simple
Doctors
Views
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 Features From Which Deductions May Be Drawn. This Murder Would Have Been Infinitely More Difficult To Unravel Had The Body Of The Victim Been Simply Found Lying In The Roadway Without Any Of Those Outré And Sensational Accompaniments Which Have Rendered It Remarkable. These Strange Details, Far From Making The Case More Difficult, Have Really Had The Effect Of Making It Less So.
Mistake
Lying
Special
The Emotional Qualities Are Antagonistic To Clear Reasoning.
Emotional
Quality
Clear
By The Way, Doctor, I Shall Want Your Cooperation.' 'i Shall Be Delighted.' 'you Don't Mind Breaking The Law?' 'not In The Least.' 'nor Running A Chance Of Arrest?' 'not In A Good Cause.' 'oh, The Cause Is Excellent!' 'then I Am Your Man.' 'i Was Sure That I Might Rely On You.
Running
Men
Law
I Consider That A Man's Brain Originally Is Like A Little Empty Attic, And You Have To Stock It With Such Furniture As You Choose.
Funny Inspirational
Knowledge
Men
If You Want To Write Good Copy, You Must Be Where The Things Are.
Writing
Want
Copies
When The Spirits Are Low, When The Day Appears Dark, When Work Becomes Monotonous, When Hope Hardly Seems Worth Having, Just Mount A Bicycle And Go Out For A Spin Down The Road, Without Thought On Anything But The Ride You Are Taking.
Inspirational
Dark
Cycling
'men Die Of The Diseases Which They Have Studied Most,' Remarked The Surgeon, Snipping Off The End Of A Cigar With All His Professional Neatness And Finish. 'it's As If The Morbid Condition Was An Evil Creature Which, When It Found Itself Closely Hunted, Flew At The Throat Of Its Pursuer. If You Worry The Microbes Too Much They May Worry You. I've Seen Cases Of It, And Not Necessarily In Microbic Diseases Either. There Was, Of Course, The Well-known Instance Of Liston And The Aneurism; And A Dozen Others That I Could Mention.'
Men
Evil
Worry
When Once Your Point Of View Is Changed, The Very Thing Which Was So Damning Becomes A Clue To The Truth.
Views
Clue
Point Of View
Ah! My Dear Watson, There We Come Into Those Realms Of Conjecture, Where The Most Logical Mind May Be At Fault. Sherlock Holmes Speaking With Dr. Watson.
Mind
Drs
May
Horses: Dangerous On Both Ends And Crafty In The Middle
Horse
Middle
Ends
Exactly. She Does Not Shine As A Wife Even In Her Own Account Of What Occurred. I Am Not A Whole-souled Admirer Of Womankind, As You Are Aware, Watson, But My Experience Of Life Has Taught Me That There Are Few Wives Having Any Regard For Their Husbands Who Would Let Any Man's Spoken Word Stand Between Them And That Husband's Dead Body. Should I Ever Marry, Watson, I Should Hope To Inspire My Wife With Some Feeling Which Would Prevent Her From Being Walked Off By A Housekeeper When My Corpse Was Lying Within A Few Yards Of Her.
Husband
Lying
Humorous
What Can We Know? What Are We All? Poor Silly Half-brained Things Peering Out At The Infinite, With The Aspirations Of Angels And The Instinct Of Beasts.
Silly
Angel
Half
A Trusty Comrade Is Always Of Use; And A Chronicler Still More So.
Use
Comrade
Stills
A Man With So Large A Brain Must Have Something In It.
Men
Brain
The Weak Man Becomes Strong When He Has Nothing, For Then Only Can He Feel The Wild, Mad Thrill Of Despair.
Strong
Men
Weak Man
It Was In The Days When France's Power Was Already Broken Upon The Seas, And When More Of Her Three-deckers Lay Rotting In The Medway Than Were To Be Found In Brest Harbour. But Her Frigates And Corvettes Still Scoured The Ocean, Closely Followed Ever By Those Of Her Rival. At The Uttermost Ends Of The Earth These Dainty Vessels, With Sweet Names Of Girls Or Of Flowers, Mangled And Shattered Each Other For The Honour Of The Four Yards Of Bunting Which Flapped From The End Of Their Gaffs.
Girl
Sweet
Ocean
Should I Ever Marry, Watson, I Should Hope To Inspire My Wife With Some Feeling Which Would Prevent Her From Being Walked Off By A Housekeeper When My Corpse Was Lying Within A Few Yards Of Her.
Lying
Wife
Inspire
It Has Long Been An Axiom Of Mine That The Little Things Are Infinitely The Most Important.
Life
Wisdom
Past
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.
Light
People
Genius
If I Could Be Assured Of Your Destruction, I Would In The Interest Of The Public, Cheerfully Accept My Death.
Destruction
Accepting
Interest
Depend Upon It There Comes A Time When For Every Addition Of Knowledge You Forget Something That You Knew Before. It Is Of The Highest Importance, Therefore, Not To Have Useless Facts Elbowing Out The Useful Ones.
Time
Knowledge
Useless
I Think That I Had Better Go, Holmes." "not A Bit, Doctor. Stay Where You Are. I Am Lost Without My Boswell.
Thinking
Doctors
Lost
Desultory Readers Are Seldom Remarkable For The Exactness Of Their Learning.
Exactness
Remarkable
Reader
No: I Am Not Tired. I Have A Curious Constitution. I Never Remember Feeling Tired By Work, Though Idleness Exhausts Me Completely." ~ Sherlock Holmes
Tired
Feelings
Constitution
I Followed You.' I Saw No One.' That Is What You May Expect To See When I Follow You.
May
Saws
Dogmas Of Every Kind Put Assertion In The Place Of Reason And Give Rise To More Contention, Bitterness, And Want Of Charity Than Any Other Influence In Human Affairs.
Giving
Atheism
Charity
...it Is Only When A Man Goes Out Into The World With The Thought That There Are Heroisms All Round Him, And With The Desire All Alive In His Heart To Follow Any Which May Come Within Sight Of Him, That He Breaks Away... From The Life He Knows, And Ventures Forth Into The Wonderful Mystic Twilight Land Where Lie The Great Adventures And The Great Rewards.
Lying
Twilight
Heart
As Cuvier Could Correctly Describe A Whole Animal By The Contemplation Of A Single Bone, So 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.
Animal
Links
Able
Really, Watson, You Excel Yourself," Said Holmes, Pushing Back His Chair And Lighting A Cigarette. "i Am Bound To Say That In All The Accounts Which You Have Been So Good As To Give Of My Own Small Achievements You Have Habitually Underrated Your Own Abilities. It May Be That You Are Not Yourself Luminous, But You Are A Conductor Of Light. Some People Without Possessing Genius Have A Remarkable Power Of Stimulating It. I Confess, My Dear Fellow, That I Am Very Much In Your Debt.
Light
Giving
People
It Is Decreed By A Merciful Nature That The Human Brain Cannot Think Of Two Things Simultaneously . . .
Thinking
Two
Brain
There Was A Brisk Northern Wind, Heavy And Wet With The Salt Of The Sea, And He Felt, As He Turned His Face To It, Fresh Life And Strength Surging In His Blood And Bracing His Limbs.
Ocean
Blood
Wind
An Absence Of Antecedents And Of Relatives Is Sometimes An Aid Rather Than An Impediment To Social Advancement . . .
Humorous
Sarcasm
Advancement
I Am Not A Very Good Man, Effie, But I Think That I Am A Better One Than You Have Given Me Credit For Being.
Men
Thinking
Good Man
So Swift, Silent And Furtive Were His Movements Like Those Of A Trained Bloodhound Picking Out A Scent, That I Could Not But Think What A Terrible Criminal He Would Have Made Had He Turned His Energy And Sagacity Against The Law Instead Of Exerting Them In Its Defense. -dr. Watson, The Sign Of The Four
Thinking
Law
Energy
We Surely Know By Some Nameless Instinct More About Our Futures Than We Think We Know.
Thinking
Instinct
Our Future
Detection Is, Or Ought To Be, An Exact Science, And Should Be Treated In The Same Cold And Unemotional Manner. You Have Attempted To Tinge It With Romanticism, Which Produces Much The Same Effect As If You Worked A Love-story Or An Elopement Into The Fifth Proposition Of Euclid.
Humorous
Sarcasm
Science
You Have A Grand Gift For Silence, Watson. It Makes You Quite Invaluable As A Companion.
Silence
Holmes
Companion
Art In The Blood Is Liable To Take The Strangest Forms.
Art
Blood
Liable
We Had Got As Far As This, When Who Should Walk In But The Gentleman Himself, Who Had Been Drinking His Beer In The Taproom And Had Heard The Whole Conversation. Who Was I? What Did I Want? What Did I Mean By Asking Questions? He Had A Fine Flow Of Language, And His Adjectives Were Very Vigorous.
Humorous
Drinking
Mean
It Is A Great Thing To Start Life With A Small Number Of Really Good Books Which Are Your Very Own.
Life
Book
Small Numbers
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 Special Subject. You Look At These Scattered Houses, And You Are Impressed By Their Beauty. I Look At Them, And The Only Thought Which Comes To Me Is A Feeling Of Their Isolation And Of The Impunity With Which Crime May Be Committed There.
House
Feelings
Mind
Still, It Is An Error To Argue In Front Of Your Data. You Find Yourself Insensibly Twisting Them Round To Fit Your Theories.
Errors
Data
Finding Yourself
There Are Fifty Who Can Reason Synthetically For One Who Can Reason Analytically.
Fifty
Reason
He Foresaw That She Would Be Very Much More Useful To Him In The Character Of A Free Woman.
Book
Character
Would Be
You're Not Hurt, Watson? For God's Sake, Say That You Are Not Hurt!" It Was Worth A Wound -- It Was Worth Many Wounds -- To Know The Depth Of Loyalty And Love Which Lay Behind That Cold Mask. The Clear, Hard Eyes Were Dimmed For A Moment, And The Firm Lips Were Shaking. For The One And Only Time I Caught A Glimpse Of A Great Heart As Well As Of A Great Brain. All My Years Of Humble But Single-minded Service Culminated In That Moment Of Revelation.
Loyalty
Hurt
Heart
Life, It Turns Out, Is Infinitely More Clever And Adaptable Than Anyone Had Ever Supposed.
Clever
Turns
Adaptable
Even The Best Of Us Are Thrown Off Some- Times.
Thrown
It Is With Nations As It Is With Individuals. A Book Of History Is A Book Of Sermons.
Book
History
Individual
Like All Holmes' Reasoning, The Thing Seemed Simplicity Itself When It Was Once Explained. Dr. Watson, Speaking Of Sherlock Holmes.
Simplicity
Drs
Holmes
There Are Times, Young Fellah, When Every One Of Us Must Make A Stand For Human Right And Justice, Or You Never Feel Clean Again.
Justice
Clean
Young
Come, Watson, Come!" He Cried. The Game Is Afoot.
Games
Cried
Watson
I Am The Most Incurably Lazy Devil That Ever Stood In Shoe Leather.
Shoes
Lazy
Devil
Strange Indeed Is Human Nature. Here Were These Men, To Whom Murder Was Familiar, Who Again And Again Had Struck Down The Father Of The Family, Some Man Against Whom They Had No Personal Feeling, Without One Thought Of Compunction Or Of Compassion For His Weeping Wife Or Helpless Children, And Yet The Tender Or Pathetic In Music Could Move Them To Tears.
Children
Father
Moving
Let Me Run Over The Principal Steps. We Approached The Case, You Remember, With An Absolutely Blank Mind, Which Is Always An Advantage. We Had Formed No Theories. We Were Simply There To Observe And To Draw Inferences From Our Observations.
Running
Blank Mind
Steps
My Sister And I, You Will Recollect, Were Twins, And You Know How Subtle Are The Links Which Bind Two Souls Which Are So Closely Allied.
Two
Soul
Links
It Is All In The Way Of Professional Experience.
Way
Holmes
Professional Experience
I Have Taken To Living By My Wits.
Taken
Wit
When We Think How Narrow And Devious This Path Of Nature Is, How Dimly We Can Trace It, For All Our Lamps Of Science, And How From The Darkness Which Girds It Round Great And Terrible Possibilities Loom Ever Shadowly Upwards, It Is A Bold And A Confident Man Who Will Put A Limit To The Strange By-oaths Into Which The Human Spirit May Wander.
Science
Men
Thinking
You Have Been In Afghanistan I Perceive.
Afghanistan
Perceive
Has Beens
Why Should People Ever Take Credit For Charity When They Must Know That They Cannot Gain As Much Pleasure Out Of Their Guineas In Any Other Fashion?
Fashion
People
Credit
I Had Neither Kith Nor Kin In England, And Was Therefore As Free As Air -- Or As Free As An Income Of Eleven Shillings And Sixpence A Day Will Permit A Man To Be. Under Such Circumstances, I Naturally Gravitated To London, That Great Cesspool Into Which All The Loungers And Idlers Of The Empire Are Irresistibly Drained.
Men
Air
Idlers
Just See How It Glints And Sparkles. Of Course It Is A Nucleus And Focus Of Crime. Every Good Stone Is. They Are The Devil
Focus
Devil
Nucleus
A Sandwich And A Cup Of Coffee, And Then Off To Violin-land, Where All Is Sweetness And Delicacy And Harmony.
Coffee
Land
Sandwiches
My Mind Rebels At Stagnation, Give Me Problems, Give Me Work!
Giving
Mind
Exaltation
He Spoke Wistfully Of A Sudden Leaving, A Breaking Of Old Ties, A Flight Into A Strange World, Ending In This Dreary Valley, And Ettie Listened, Her Dark Eyes Gleaming With Pity And With Sympathy - Those Two Qualities Which May Turn So Rapidly And So Naturally To Love.
Eye
Dark
Compassion
You Are My Heart, My Life, My One And Only Thought.
Love
Heart
Wedding Anniversary
I Had ... Come To An Entirely Erroneous Conclusion, Which Shows, My Dear Watson, How Dangerous It Always Is To Reason From Insufficient Data.
Science
Data
Investing
Far Away On The Path We Saw Sir Henry Looking Back, His Face White In The Moonlight, His Hands Raised In Horror, Glaring Helplessly At The Frightful Thing Which Was Hunting Him Down. But That Cry Of Pain From The Hound Had Blown All Our Fears To The Winds. If He Was Vulnerable He Was Mortal, And If We Could Wound Him We Could Kill Him. Never Have I Seen A Man Run As Holmes Ran That Night.
Running
Pain
Book
Critics Kind Never Mind! Critics Flatter No Matter! Critics Blame All The Same! Do Your Best Damn The Rest!
Mind
Criticism
Matter
In Shape They Were Like Horrible Toads, And Moved In A Succession Of Springs, But In Size They Were Of An Incredible Bulk, Larger Than The Largest Elephant. We Had Never Before Seen Them Save At Night, And Indeed They Are Nocturnal Animals Save When Disturbed In Their Lairs, As These Had Been. We Now Stood Amazed At The Sight, For Their Blotched And Warty Skins Were Of A Curious Fish-like Iridescence, And The Sunlight Struck Them With An Ever-varying Rainbow Bloom As They Moved.
Spring
Animal
Night
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
Views
Different
May
When You Have One Of The First Brains Of Europe Up Against You, And All The Powers Of Darkness At His Back, There Are Infinite Possibilities.
Europe
Darkness
Brain
No Man Burdens His Mind With Small Matters Unless He Has Some Very Good Reason For Doing So.
Men
Mind
Matter
My Name Is Sherlock Holmes. It Is My Business To Know What Other People Do Not Know.
Business
Names
People
As A Rule, Said Holmes, The More Bizarre A Thing Is The Less Mysterious It Proves To Be. It Is Your Commonplace, Featureless Crimes Which Are Really Puzzling, Just As A Commonplace Face Is The Most Difficult To Identify.
Literature
Faces
Mysterious
There's A Light In A Woman's Eyes That Speaks Louder Than Words.
Eye
Light
Speak
Brothers Are A Blessing For One Thing. There Is No Possibility Of Any Young Lady Getting Unreasonably Conceited If She Be Endowed With Them.
Brother
Humorous
Sarcasm
I Am An Omnivorous Reader With A Strangely Retentive Memory For Trifles.
Memories
Trifles
Reader
It Is Only Goodness Which Gives Extras, And So I Say Again That We Have Much To Hope From The Flowers.
Flower
Giving
Goodness
...it Was A Huge Creature, Luminous, Ghastly, And Spectral. I Have Cross-examined These Men, One Of Them A Hard-headed Countryman, One A Farrier, And One A Moorland Farmer, Who All Tell The Same Story Of This Dreadful Apparition, Exactly Corresponding To The Hell-hound Of The Legend. I Assure You That There Is A Reign Of Terror In The District, And That It Is A Hardy Man Who Will Cross The Moor At Night.
Halloween
Night
Men
The Goose We Retained Until This Morning, When There Were Signs That, In Spite Of The Slight Frost, It Would Be Well That It Should Be Eaten Without Delay. Its Finder Has Carried It Off Therefore To Fulfil The Ultimate Destiny Of A Goose.
Morning
Food
Destiny
The Times Is A Paper Which Is Seldom Found In Any Hands But Those Of The Highly Educated.
Hands
Paper
Found
It Is Hardly Fair To Blame America For The State Of San Francisco, For Its Population Is Cosmopolitan And Its Seaport Attracts The Floating Vice Of The Pacific; But Be The Cause What It May, There Is Much Room For Spiritual Betterment.
Spiritual
San Francisco
America
The Most Winning Woman I Ever Knew Was Hanged For Poisoning Three Little Children For Their Insurance-money, And The Most Repellent Man Of My Acquaintance Is A Philanthropist Who Has Spent Nearly A Quarter Of A Million Upon The London Poor.
Children
Winning
Men
Any Truth Is Better Than Indefinite Doubt.
Book
Historical
Doubt
From A Drop Of Water A Logician Could Infer The Possibility Of An Atlantic Or A Niagara Without Having Seen Or Heard Of One Or The Other.
Math
Water
Logic
I Am Afraid That I Rather Give Myself Away When I Explain," Said He. "results Without Causes Are Much More Impressive.
Giving
Causes
Results
Only That I Insist Upon Your Dining With Us. It Will Be Ready In Half An Hour. I Have Oysters And A Brace Of Grouse, With Something A Little Choice In White Wines. Watson, You Have Never Yet Recognized My Merits As A Housekeeper. ~ Sherlock Holmes
Wine
Oysters
White
It Is Not Really Difficult To Construct A Series Of Inferences, Each Dependent Upon Its Predecessor And Each Simple In Itself. If, After Doing So, One Simply Knocks Out All The Central Inferences And Presents One's Audience With The Starting-point And The Conclusion, One May Produce A Startling, Though Perhaps A Meretricious, Effect.
Book
Simple
Simplicity
There Is Danger For Him Who Taketh The Tiger Cub, And Danger Also For Whoso Snatches A Delusion From A Woman.
Danger
Cubs
Holmes
I Never Guess. It Is A Shocking Habit Destructive To The Logical Faculty.
Science
Literature
Logic
My Business Is That Of Every Other Good Citizen - To Uphold The Law.
Law
Citizens
Good Citizen
All Right, Watson. Don’t Look So Scared,” He Muttered In A Very Weak Voice. “it’s Not As Bad As It Seems.” “thank God For That!” “i’m A Bit Of A Single-stick Expert, As You Know. I Took Most Of Them On My Guard. It Was The Second Man That Was Too Much For Me.” “what Can I Do, Holmes? Of Course, It Was That Damned Fellow Who Set Them On. I’ll Go And Thrash The Hide Off Him If You Give The Word.” “good Old Watson!(...)
Men
Voice
Giving
The World Is Full Of Obvious Things Which Nobody By Any Chance Ever Observes.
Life
Obvious Things
World
'it Is My Duty To Warn You That It Will Be Used Against You,' Cried The Inspector, With The Magnificent Fair Play Of The British Criminal Law.
Law
Play
Criminals
I Think You Want A Little Unofficial Help. Three Undetected Murders In One Year Won't Do, Lestrade. But You Handled The Molesey Mystery With Less Than Your Usual - That's To Say, You Handled It Fairly Well.
Humorous
Sarcasm
Thinking
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