Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes

Modern influential 137 sayings

Sayings by Arthur Conan Doyle

Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.

1891 — A Case of Identity, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Humorous Unverifiable

Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.

1892 — The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Humorous Unverifiable

The press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it.

1904 — The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Humorous Unverifiable

Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

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.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

1891 — The White Company
Humorous Unverifiable

The highest and most complex achievement of the human intellect is the power of generalization.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

My dear Watson, you were in my mind, just as I was in yours.

1915 — The Valley of Fear
Humorous Unverifiable

Work is the best antidote to sorrow.

1895 — The Stark Munro Letters
Humorous Unverifiable

It is an error to argue in front of your data. You can insensibly twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

1891 — A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Humorous Unverifiable

There are some who are good, and some who are evil. And the world is full of both.

1902 — The Hound of the Baskervilles
Humorous Unverifiable

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?

1890 — The Sign of the Four
Humorous Unverifiable

It is a great thing to have a friend whose mind works like your own.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

One should always look for a possible alternative and provide against it. It is the first rule of successful planning.

1915 — The Valley of Fear
Humorous Unverifiable

Our minds are like a blank sheet of paper, to be filled in with facts.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

Post-1916 — Attributed, but context is unclear, may be from his later spiritualism writings.
Humorous Unverifiable

There is a strong family resemblance about misdeeds, and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger ends, it is odd if you can't unravel the thousand and first.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable

The public is an old baby. It likes to be told a story.

Unknown, likely late 19th/early 20th century — Attributed, often cited in discussions of his writing approach.
Humorous Unverifiable

The more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is only the commonplace that truly puzzles.

1891 — The Red-Headed League, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Humorous Unverifiable

The easiest way to make a man a fool is to give him an opinion and then contradict it.

1887 — A Study in Scarlet
Humorous Unverifiable