Quotes from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle ·  303 pages

Rating: (15.7K votes)


“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“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.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“Life, it turns out, is infinitely more clever and adaptable than anyone had ever supposed.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes



“The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action I can recall in our association. I was alone.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“When once your point of view is changed, the very thing which was so damning becomes a clue to the truth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“When a man does a queer thing, or two queer things, there may be a meaning to it, but when everything he does is queer, then you begin to wonder”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“There is a soul-jealousy that can be as frantic as any body-jealousy.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes



“Every man finds his limitations, Mr. Holmes, but at least it cures us of the weakness of self-satisfaction.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“The ways of fate are indeed hard to understand. If there is not some compensation hereafter, then the world is a cruel jest.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“There is a danger there - a very real danger to humanity. Consider, Watson, that the material, the sensual, the worldly would all prolong their worthless lives. The spiritual would not avoid the call to something higher. It would be the survival of the least fit. What sort of cesspool may not our poor world become?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes



“When people bury treasure nowadays they do it in the Post-Office bank.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“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!(...)”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“No ghosts need apply.

- Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“It is all in the way of professional experience.
- Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“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.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes



“You are right," he cried with an immense sigh of relief. "It is quite superficial." His face set like flint as he glared at our prisoner, who was sitting up with a dazed face. "By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“One likes to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding may still make love to the belles of Richardson, where Scott’s heroes still may strut, Dickens’s delightful Cockneys still raise a laugh, and Thackeray’s worldlings continue to carry on their reprehensible careers. Perhaps in some humble corner of such a Valhalla, Sherlock and his Watson may for a time find a place, while some more astute sleuth with some even less astute comrade may fill the stage which they have vacated.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“We give you best, Holmes. I believe you are the devil himself.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“She entered with ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn, squawking, out of its coop.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes



“. . . and meanwhile take my assurance that the clouds are lifting and that I have every hope that the light of truth is breaking through”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“A fortune for one man that was more than he needed should not be built on ten thousand ruined men who were left without the means of life.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“When will you be pleased to dine, Mr. Holmes?' Mrs. Hudson asked. 'Seven-thirty, the day after to-morrow' said he.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


“Era peor la herida... eran peor muchas heridas... que saber la profundidad de lealtad y amor que yacía detrás de esa fría máscara. Los ojos severos y claros se apagaron por un momento, y los firmes labios se agitaron. Por una única vez alcancé a ver un gran corazón tan bien como un gran cerebro. Todos mis años de humildad así como de servicio fiel culminaron en ese momento de revelación.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


About the author

Arthur Conan Doyle
Born place: in Edinburgh, Scotland
Born date May 22, 1859
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