I said that he was my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived. But he has no ambition and no energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right.

Ah! my dear Watson, there we come into those realms of conjecture, where the most logical mind may be at fault. Sherlock Holmes speaking with Dr. Watson.

I have taken to living by my wits.

It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.

Brothers are a blessing for one thing. There is no possibility of any young lady getting unreasonably conceited if she be endowed with them.

I am the most incurably lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather.

Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil