As a rule, said Holmes, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.

Quote by Arthur Conan Doyle

Topics: Arthur Conan Doyle Quotes

I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying...

I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying...

Our ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret Nature.

Our ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret Nature.

A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem.

A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem.

It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever...

It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever...

The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless.

The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless.

A trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so.

A trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so.

Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit...

Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit...

I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by...

I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by...

His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge.

His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge.

Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.

Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.

In an experience of women that extends over many nations and three separate continents, I...

In an experience of women that extends over many nations and three separate continents, I...

The ideal reasoner, he remarked, would, when he had once been shown a single fact...

The ideal reasoner, he remarked, would, when he had once been shown a single fact...

Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.

Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.

We can't command our love, but we can our actions.

We can't command our love, but we can our actions.

There is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman.

There is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman.

Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget...

Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget...

London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are...

London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are...

The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of...

The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of...

Sir Walter, with his 61 years of life, although he never wrote a novel until...

Sir Walter, with his 61 years of life, although he never wrote a novel until...

Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting.

Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting.