The Sign of the Four Quotes

The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.

But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things.

While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.

I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.

I never guess. It is a shocking habit, — destructive to the logical faculty.

You know my methods. Apply them.

The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.

No: I am not tired. I have a curious constitution. I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely.

My mind, 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.

I’ve had ups in my life, and I’ve had downs, but I’ve learned not to cry over spilled milk.

How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature!

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth?