A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.

The whole force of the State is at your back if you should need it. I'm afraid that all the queen's horses and all the queen's men cannot avail in this matter.

I wanted to end the world but,I'll settle for ending yours.

As a rule, said Holmes, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.

Life, it turns out, is infinitely more clever and adaptable than anyone had ever supposed.

An absence of antecedents and of relatives is sometimes an aid rather than an impediment to social advancement . . .

His sanguine spirit turns every firefly into a star.