by 
I will admit it…I have been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan all of my reading life. I have the anthologies, every story scribed, and even the modern authors who tried to find the voice of Holmes and write new cases for him to solve.
There is a new show that premiered this week called “Elementary” starring Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu which is a modern day adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle’s infamous characters. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope too, and more so, I hope it doesn’t destroy the incredible characters invented in the genius of Doyle.
As I saw a commercial for the new series, my mind went to some famous Sherlockian quotes, so I am sure you can probably deduce by now, that this wee=ks Sunday Night Quotes are coming from Sherlock Holmes! I know, that was elementary…
*********
“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.” ~Sherlock Holmes –A Scandal in Bohemia
“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” ~Sherlock Holmes – A Case of Identity
“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” ~Sherlock Holmes –The Sign of Four
“You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.” ~Sherlock Holmes
“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear
“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
“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.” ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four
“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.” ~ Sherlock Holmes
“There is nothing more to be said or to be done tonight, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellowmen.” ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Five Orange Pips
“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red Headed League
“When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.” ~Sherlock Holmes
“A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.” ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
“Dr. Watson’s summary list of Sherlock Holmes’s strengths and weaknesses:
“1. Knowledge of Literature: Nil.
2. Knowledge of Philosophy: Nil.
3. Knowledge of Astronomy: Nil.
4. Knowledge of Politics: Feeble.
5. Knowledge of Botany: Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
5. Knowledge of Geology: Practical but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry: Profound.
8. Knowledge of Anatomy: Accurate but unsystematic.
9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature: Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.”
~Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
“The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure Of The Dying Detective
“Never theorize before you have data. Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts.” Sherlock Holmes
“I have been beaten four times – three times by men and once by a woman.” ~Sherlock Holmes to John Openshaw: The Five Orange Pips
“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.” ~Sherlock Holmes –A Case of Identity
Leave a Reply