Sherlock Holmes Quotes

Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget

Sherlock Holmes Quotes

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

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

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'I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 1: "The Science of Deduction"

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'There is nothing like first-hand evidence.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Study in Scarlet

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

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Hound of the Baskervilles

Chapter 3: "The Problem"

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'You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Scandal in Bohemia

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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.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Scandal in Bohemia

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'I never guess. It is a shocking habit,—destructive to the logical faculty.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 1: "The Science of Deduction"

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'You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Bascombe Valley Mystery

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'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Bascombe Valley Mystery

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"'Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?'

'To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.'

'The dog did nothing in the night-time.'

'That was the curious incident,' remarked Sherlock Holmes.'"

Exchange between Inspector Gregory &Sherlock Holmes

-Silver Blaze

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

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 1: "The Science of Deduction"

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

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 6: "Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration

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'...when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Blanched Soldier

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'It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Beryl Coronet

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'Come, Watson, come!' he cried. 'The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Adventure of the The Abbey Grange

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"Data! Data! Data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay."

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

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'I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

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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.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Study in Scarlet

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'There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Study in Scarlet

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'I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions it invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Study in Scarlet

Chapter 3: "Light in the Darkness"

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'Which is it today,' I asked, 'morphine or cocaine?'

He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-leather volume which he had opened.

'It is cocaine,' he said, 'a seven-per-cent solution. Would you like to try it?'

Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 1: "The Science of Deduction"

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'I never make exceptions.  An exception disproves the rule.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 2: "The Statement of the Case'

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Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it in his pocket.  It was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one.

Observation of Dr. Watson

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 3: "In Quest of a Solution"

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So 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 defence.

Observation of Dr. Watson

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 6: "Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration"

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'I listen to their story, they listen to my comments, and then I pocket my fee.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-A Study in Scarlet

Chapter 2: "The Science of Deduction"

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'What one man can invent another can discover.'

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Adventure of the Dancing Man

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 When I glanced again his face had resumed that red-Indian composure which had made so many regard him as a machine rather than a man. 

Dr. Watson Observing Sherlock Holmes

-The Crooked Man

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 'Having gathered these facts, Watson, I smoked several pipes over them, trying to separate those which were crucial from others which were merely incidental.' 

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Crooked Man 

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 'He [Holmes] loved to lie in the very centre of five millions of people, with his filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive to every little rumor or suspicion of unsolved crime.' 

Dr. Watson's Observation of Sherlock Holmes

-The Resident Patient

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"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world."

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Sign of Four

Chapter 1: "The Science of Deduction"

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

Sherlock Holmes Quote

-The Adventure of the Speckled Band

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  On this page are some of the most famous and perhaps not so famous quotes from the Sherlock Holmes short stories and books as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These quotes are from the great Detective Sherlock Holmes, his friend, Dr. John Watson, and others.  For each quote, the name of the person speaking and the short story or novel the quote was copied from have been provided. More of the quote is provided to show context for some of the more famous Sherlock Holmes quotes. There are hundreds of quotes and we seek to be the most complete source of Sherlock Holmes quotes on the Internet.  Feel free to share any that we may have missed. Dont forget to provide the source of any quote you submit. Submit to ksearle1@pdq.net. All quotes on this web site were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle unless otherwise stated.