By a man's finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt-cuff — By each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable. You know that a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.

Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he.

...while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.

I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by my wrist and pushed me back into my chair. 'It is both, or none,' said he. 'You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me.

We surely know by some nameless instinct more about our futures than we think we know.

It is the small men and not the great who hold their noses in the air.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.