"I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur."

There is but one step from the grotesque to the horrible.

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

My dear Watson," said [Sherlock Holmes], "I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers.

Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them.

Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.

It is with nations as it is with individuals. A book of history is a book of sermons.