Sherlock Holmes Quotes

Below are some quotes from the stories we'll be reading:

“A Scandal in Bohemia”

·         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.

·         To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name.

“The Red-Headed League”

·         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.

 “The Five Orange Pips”

·         A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library...

·         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.

·         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.

·         A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.

“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”

·         My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know.

·         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.

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

·         "You are Holmes, the meddler."
My friend smiled.
"Holmes, the busybody!"
His smile broadened.
"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!"
Holmes chuckled heartily.

·         "When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge."

·         Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.

“The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”

·         "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."

·         "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."