"I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences."

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognise out of a number of facts which are incidental and which are vital.

We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he with a horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds and clawed the air with both his hands.

The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.

You yourself may not be luminous, but you are a conductor of light.

…but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.