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

I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of daily life.

Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.

Let me see. What are my other shortcomings?

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.

You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.

Perhaps, when a man has special knowledge and special powers like my own, it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when a simpler one is at hand.