I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain. Results without causes are much more impressive.
Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old lovers are the worst.
We are suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.
To underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.
The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact — of absolute undeniable fact — from the embellishments of theorists and reporters.
The authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage.
Out of my last fifty-three cases my name has only appeared in four, and the police have had all the credit in forty-nine.
Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.
Misfortunes never come single.
It’s every man’s business to see justice done.
It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognise danger when it is close upon you.
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 vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of being concentrated.
