The Sign of Four Quotes

“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“No: I am not tired. I have a curious constitution. I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely." ~ Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Wir sind gewohnt dass die Menschen verhöhnen was sie nicht verstehen. (Goethe)—We are used to see that Man mocks what he never comprehends.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains for you?"
"For me," said Sherlock Holmes, "there still remains the cocaine bottle.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“My mind rebels at stagnation, give me problems, give me work!”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“You know my methods. Apply them.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“The man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing," mused the Inspector, "Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times... What do you think of this, Holmes? Sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother last night. The brother died in a fit, on which Sholto walked off the treasure! How's that?"
"On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside," said Holmes.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“‎A change of work is the best rest.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“...while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign Of Four

“...I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-colored houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers, doctor, when one has no field upon which to exert them? Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Even the best of us are thrown off some- times.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“So we stood hand-in-hand, like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four

“I've had ups in my life, and I've had downs, but I've learned not to cry over spilled milk.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four

“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Only that I insist upon your dining with us. It will be ready in half an hour. I have oysters and a brace of grouse, with something a little choice in white wines. Watson, you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper. ~ Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“A wondrous subtle thing is love, for here were we two, who had never seen each other before that day, between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other… So we stood hand in hand like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“So swift, silent and furtive were his movements like those of a trained bloodhound picking out a scent, that I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had he turned his energy and sagacity against the law instead of exerting them in its defense.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“It is of the first importance not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, ---a factor in a problem. - Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“I abhour the dull routine of existence" - Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Well, and there is the end of our little drama," I remarked, after we had sat some time smoking in silence. "I fear that it may be the last investigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods. Miss Morstan has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in prospective."
He gave a most dismal groan.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“My sympathies and my love went out to her, even as my hand had in the garden. I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet, brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences. Yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips. She was weak and helpless, shaken in mind and nerve. It was to take her at a disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time. Worst still, she was rich.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Yes, there are in me the makings of a very fine loafer, and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow. I often think of those lines of old Goethe: 'Schade, daß die Natur nur einen Menschen aus dir schuf; Denn zum würdigen Mann war und zum Schelmen der Stoff.'”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four

“It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution. Would you
care to try it?"
"No, indeed," I answered brusquely. "My constitution has not got
over the Afghan campaign yet. I cannot afford to throw any extra
strain upon it."
He smiled at my vehemence. "Perhaps you are right, Watson," he
said. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. I find
it, however, so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the
mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four