Sherlock Quotes

I dove on those papers like Sherlock Holmes on a cappuccino binge. ~ Jordan Sonnenblick

The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

So many of the great detectives that we see on television now owe their origins to Sherlock Holmes. What was very exciting about Rob's pitch and script was that he is a real Holmes-ian expert. He knew all of the mythology. He was very well-versed in the genesis of Holmes and the stories. And the twist with Watson is something we jumped at immediately. It's a very forward-thinking way of doing the show. ~ Nina Tassler

Nothing is truly infamous, but what is wicked; and therefore shame can never disturb an innocent and virtuous mind. ~ Thomas Sherlock

Man, or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

I must admit watching the great mind of Sherlock Holmes struggle to ask even a single question was perhaps the best part of that wretched day. Other than the kiss itself. I caught my finger touching my lips and turned my back to him, looking over my shoulder briefly to say, "Looked like you needed a distraction. ~ Heather W. Petty

True deduction can only be obtained through a certain amount of self annihilation. ~ Joe Riggs

It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

That hurts my pride, Watson. It is a petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal matter with me now..."

-Sherlock Holmes-
-The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Five Orange Pips- ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Mr. Sherlock Holmes ... was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Although there's an inherent light-heartedness to 'Sherlock,' I slightly err towards not doing the comedy. ~ Martin Freeman

Or we can settle in and watch every single episode of Sherlock." "Now you're talking." Benedict Cumberbatch is my homeboy. ~ Autumn Doughton

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

As it happens" said my uncle," I intended to make an appearance at the met today anyway. Inspector Lestrade has been bumbling through another investigation, and I decided it would be best to offer my assistance before he travels too far down an incorrect deductive path- and note that I use the term deductive liberally. I don`t belive Lestrade could deduce in which direction a horse crossed the street even if he came upon a pile of its dung!"
Sherlock Holmes, The Chess queen enigma ~ Colleen Gleason

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

The truth is that I used to read J.J. bedtime stories. He came up to me at the FOX commissary about four years ago and he said, "Do you remember what you gave me for my Barmitzvah?" I said no. He said, "You gave me the annotated Sherlock Holmes and my son is reading it now." It was the gift that kept on giving. ~ Nicholas Meyer

Did you learn to drive - by playing Mario Kart - "
"I've never put a Mario in a cart and I never will. ~ Eva Morgan

In the darkest corner of a darkened room, all Sherlock Homes stories begin. In the pregnant dim of gaslight and smoke, Holmes would sit, digesting the day's papers, puffing on his long pipe, injecting himself with cocaine. He would pop smoke rings into the gloom, waiting for something, anything, to pierce into the belly of his study and release the promise of adventure; of clues to interpret; of, at last he would plead, a puzzle he could not solve. And after each story he would return here, into the dark room, and die day by day of boredom. The darkness of his study was his cage, but also the womb of his genius. ~ Graham Moore

That head of yours should be for use as well as
ornament. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

You know, I never did call him Watson – he was John, simply John. ~ Mitch Cullin

And by the way, Sherlock Holmes is Jewish. He changed his name. I'm surprised you nerver guessed it. (p. 248) ~ Rebecca Goldstein

I deal with long blank stretches of empty boredom by laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, imagining situations in which I might die. Apparently, Sherlock deals with it by microwaving shoes. ~ Eva Morgan

All this was very loose guessing, and I don't pretend it was ingenious or scientific. I wasn't any kind of Sherlock Holmes. But I have always fancied I had a kind of instinct about questions like this. I don't know if I can explain myself, but I used to use my brains as far as they went, and after they came to a blank wall I guessed, and I usually found my guesses pretty right. ~ John Buchan

They always told me not to get in the car with strangers."
"I'm not a stranger. I'm your neighbor." "My strange neighbor. ~ Eva Morgan

we are two like-minded creatures too well-matched, both equal halves of a whole not altogether wholesome ~ Beatriz Fitzgerald Fernandez

He is the organiser of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in [London]. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. Sherlock Holmes in 'The Final Problem ~ Anonymous

Brief prayers were muttered for Martin's soul, and then people began trading theories. Within minutes the place was a smoke-filled den of tipsy Sherlock Holmses. ~ Ransom Riggs

Your own death is something that happens to everyone else. ~ Sherlock

Suz, carrying Savich's plate, the scrambled eggs steaming, stopped to stare after Rachael. 'Isn't this par for the course
a sexy guy with two girls
I'll just bet the little readhead here threatened to whomp the blonde with that cute braid, right?'
'You're very observant, Suz,' Savich said.
Sherlock rolled her eyes. ~ Catherine Coulter

Life is seldom about the destination, Sherlock," smiled Irene. "It's about the journey. ~ Melvyn Small

Jacque leaned over and whispered in Sally's ear, "I give it two days before he lays one on her."
"You're being generous. I say less than twenty four hours."
"Is that a bet?" Jacque asked, eyebrows raised.
"Better believe it," Sally answered. Her lips eased into a crooked smile.
Jen leaned around Sally and glared at her two best friends. "What are you two betting on?"
"Good grief. What, does she have eagle ears or something?"
"No, you dork. Your whisper is just you talking in normal volume but making your voice raspy. Really, you sound more like a chick who's been smoking for thirty years."
Jen shrugged. "I'm just throwing that out there. You can take it and apply it at your leisure."
Fane was chuckling at Jen's words when Jacque elbowed him, causing him to cough."You don't get to laugh, wolf-man."
Jacque turned back to Jen. "Thank you for that observation, Sherlock."
"Always glad to help a friend in need, Watson." Jen grinned at Jacque's irritated look. ~ Quinn Loftis

I don't know and I really don't like not knowing ~ Sherlock

There are several reasons why fans of BBC's Sherlock are utterly mad, incurably creative, and horny as hell.
First and foremost, they are hungry. Devotees of American TV dramas get twenty-two episodes a year. Fans of most British drams enjoy six, eight, maybe a dozen.
The Sherlock fandom gets three. The Sherlock fandom gets three television episodes every 18-24 months. The Sherlock fandom is deeply, abidingly, and very inventively starving. ~ Anne Jamison

I'm paraphrasing, but basically Sherlock warned that you should never theorize before you have the facts because then you twist the facts to suit the theory instead of twisting the theory to suit the facts. ~ Harlan Coben

Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

If you're so bored, learn to knit. I'm not that good of a hobby."
"If I ever learn to knit, the first thing I'll make is a noose to hang myself with. ~ Eva Morgan

I don't want to come over all po-faced, because ultimately Sherlock is just entertainment, but if I can, I want to try to set a good example. ~ Louise Brealey

To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exagerate one's own powers. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

I reached for the prescription. In a vigorous scrawl, he inked: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. Take ten pages, twice a day, till end of course. ~ Diane Setterfield

The affair seems absurdly trifling, and yet I dare call nothing trivial when I reflect that some of my most classic cases have had the least promising commencement. You will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

In one of the earlier Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Arthur Conan Doyle (not yet a Sir) made an observation on logical deduction. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
There is, however, a specific flaw in that maxim. It assumes people can recognize the difference between what is impossible and what they believe is impossible. ~ Peter Clines

It's quite exciting, said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

I wasn't a big science-fiction fan growing up. But I loved Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes. Both came into play on 'The X-Files.' ~ Chris Carter

Have you read Gaboriau's works?" I asked.
"Does Lecoq come up to your idea of a detective?"
Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. "Lecoq
was a miserable bungler," he said, in an angry
voice; "he had only one thing to recommend him, and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I could have done it in twenty four hours. Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a text-book for detectives to teach them what to avoid. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

London, noisy, noisome, nattering London: aged, ageless, dignified, eccentric in her ways - seat of empire, capital of all the world; that indomitable grey lady of drab aspect but sparkling personality - was at her very, very best and most radiant. And Holmes, ebullient and uncommonly chatty, was in a mood to match. ~ Edward B. Hanna

That's our cue," Dr. Chadwick noted, managing to approximate a cheerful smile, addressing the room at large. "Everyone please stand behind the yellow line until the doors open. No food, drink, flash photography, or video cameras are permitted. Once aboard the ride, please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times until we come to a full and complete stop. Otherwise, they're apt to end up in another universe somewhere without ya, and wouldn't that fry your noggin? ~ Stephanie Osborn

As I turned away, I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world.
- Watson. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Interviewer: You said I'm the first psychoanalyst you've met who had a sense of humor. Meaning you've met others who didn't?

Ezra: Proper little Sherlock over here, huh. ~ Amie Kaufman

Yes, the setting (Dartmoor) is a worthy one. If the devil did desire to have a hand in the affairs of men.
Sherlock Holmes ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

He got up. It was too early to go to bed; at least, he was not in the mood for it. He pined for a bit of amusement - something cheap and easy. A seat in the pictures, cigarettes, beer. Useless! No money to pay for any of them. He would read KING LEAR and forget this filthy century. Finally, however, it was THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES that he took from the mantelpiece. SHERLOCK HOLMES was his favorite of all books, because he knew it by heart. The oil in the lamp was giving out and it was getting beastly cold. Gordon dragged the quilt from his bed, wrapped it round his legs and sat down to read. His right elbow on the table, his hands under his coat to keep them warm, he read through "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." The little gas-mantle sighed above, the circular flame of the oil-lamp burned low, a thin bracket of fire, giving out no more heat than a candle. ~ George Orwell

Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

So far Kat has been through all the Wa's she could think of, but Hale hadn't admitted to being Walter or Ward or Washington. He'd firmly denied both Warren and Waverly. Watson had prompted him to do a very bad Sherlock Holmes impersonation throughout a good portion of a train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland. And Wayne seemed so wrong she hadn't even tried.
Hale was Hale. And not knowing what the W's stood for had become a constant reminder to Kat that, in life, there are some things that can be given but never stolen.
Of course, that didn't stop her from trying. ~ Ally Carter

The Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands but those of the highly educated. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

My friend's wiry arms were around me and he was leading me to the chair.
"You're not hurt, Watson? For God's sake say that you're not hurt!"
It was worth a wound -it was worth many wounds- to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay beyond that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Between the ages of ten and fifteen in St. Petersburg, I must have read more fiction and poetry - English, Russian and French - than in any other five-year period of my life. I relished especially the works of Wells, Poe, Browning, Keats, Flaubert, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Chekhov, Tolstoy, and Alexander Blok. On another level, my heroes were the Scarlet Pimpernel, Phileas Fogg, and Sherlock Holmes. In other words, I was a perfectly normal trilingual child in a family with a large library. At a later period, in Western Europe, between the ages of 20 and 40, my favorites were Housman, Rupert Brooke, Norman Douglas, Bergson, Joyce, Proust, and Pushkin. Of these top favorites, several - Poe, Jules Verne, Emmuska Orezy, Conan Doyle, and Rupert Brooke - have lost the glamour and thrill they held for me. The others remain intact and by now are probably beyond change as far as I am concerned. ~ Vladimir Nabokov

And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Ultimately, Roger learned only of the encounter with the urban bees. The boy remained thoroughly fascinated by what he heard nonetheless, his blue-eyed stare never once straying from Holmes; his visage passive and accepting, his eyes wide, Roger's pupils stated fixed on those venerable, reflective eyes, as though the boy were seeing distant lights shimmering along an opaque horizon, a glimpse of something flickering and alive existing beyond his reach. And, in turn, the gray eyes that focused sharply on him - piercing and kind at the same instant - endeavoured to bridge the lifetime that separated the two of them, attempting to do so as brandy was sipped, and the vial's glass grew warmer against soft palms, and that seasoned, well-lived voice somehow made Roger feel much older and more worldly than his years. ~ Mitch Cullin

I was thrilled with how the first series of 'Sherlock' was received. It was such great fun to film, which makes it so rewarding when something you enjoy is so well received. ~ Benedict Cumberbatch

It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depth by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Lord St Simon: 'I presume your usual clients do not belong to the same class?'
Sherlock Holmes: 'No, indeed. My last client was a king. ~ Arthur Hall

The division seems rather unfair," I remarked. "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." And he stretched his long white hand up for
it. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

You have brought detection as near an exact science as it ever will be brought in this world. My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the earnest way in which I uttered them. I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

John [to Sherlock]: You're incredible. A genius. A good friend. And a lousy driver. ~ Guy Adams

It's barely changed since the faceless colour committee originally selected it in 1908 when the first map of the Underground was designed and the Bakerloo conclusively became brown, a very early twentieth-century brown, which brings something of the nineteenth century with it - the colour of Sherlock Holmes's pipe, a Gladstone bag, a grandfather clock. ~ Paul Morley

Amazing, really, to think of what a man could achieve with the simple ability to put pen to paper and spin a decent yarn. ~ Graham Moore

One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide against it.
-Sherlock Holmes ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

But you, Holmes-you have changed very little-save for that horrible goatee."
"These are the sacrifices one makes for one's country, Watson," said Holmes, pulling at his little tuft. "To-morrow it will be but a dreadful memory. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

No murderer had before or has since caused such a sensation, passed so quickly into folklore or gained an image – top hat, cape and Gladstone bag – that is truly iconic: as instantly recognisable as Sherlock Holmes's deerstalker and meerschaum pipe, and as capable of conveying a meaning understood around the world – even by people who know nothing about the Ripper or what he did, or that he, unlike Holmes, actually existed. ~ Paul Begg

I hear it still. As I lay down my pen and take to my bed, I am aware of the bow being drawn across the bridge and the music rises into the night sky. It is far away and barely audible - but there it is! A pizzicato. Then a tremelo. The style is unmistakable. It is Sherlock Holmes who is playing. It must be. I hope with all my heart that he is playing for me ... ~ Anthony Horowitz

The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes and Jem Finch would agree. ~ Harper Lee

I love Sherlock Holmes. There's still an awful lot to steal from Conan Doyle. But within a tradition you can work in many different ways. ~ Henning Mankell

I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

[Sherlock Holmes:] The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Aideen snapped her fingers. "Oh my God, I've an idea."

Angels began to sing from the Heavens at Aideen's declaration.

"There's a first time for everythin'." I shrugged.

Aideen shoved me and it made me, and the girls laugh.

"Go on then Watson, enlighten me with your plan."

Aideen smirked. "Accept the bet, then we use our bodies to make sure the only hard time that will be had is in the lads' boxer shorts."

That... that actually had promise.

"I love it," Branna beamed and bumped fists with Aideen.

I raised my eyebrow and smiled. "I never thought I'd say this, but good thinkin'."

Aideen bumped fists with me. "I'm much more than a pretty face with big tits, Sherlock. ~ L.A. Casey

A book collector is mad enough to begin with, Watson; but tempt him with some such bait as this Shakespeare quarto and he is bereft of all sanity. ~ Vincent Starrett

No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

The first thing that put me on the map was my Sherlock Holmes novel. ~ Nicholas Meyer

You say that your fare told you that he was a detective?"
"Yes, he did."
"When did he say this?"
"When he left me."
"Did he say anything more?"
"He mentioned his name."
Holmes cast a swift glance of triumph at me.
"Oh, he mentioned his name, did he? That was imprudent. What was the name that he mentioned?"
"His name," said the cabman, "was Mr. Sherlock Holmes. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

I shook hands with the attorney, advising him to forgive the cat he had banished from his offices since a child had been the downfall of the bird, not a feline at all. The scratches on the birdcage were months old, while the small, sticky chocolate fingerprints on the cage door were less than a week old. He looked shocked and glanced wordlessly over at his birdcage, so I walked over to the nearest window to point to the matching chocolate fingerprints where a child had released the budgie into the skies of Toronto. ~ Angela Misri

All my instincts are one way, and all the facts are the other, and I much fear that British juries have not yet attained that pitch of intelligence when they will give the preference to my theories over Lestrade's facts. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

My friend opened a small box which Lestrade had produced. Inside lay a beautiful silver cigarette case monogrammed with Holmes's initials, underneath which ran the words, "With the Respects of Scotland Yard, November 1888."
Sherlock Holmes sat with his lips parted, but no sound emerged.
"Thank you," he managed at length. ~ Lyndsay Faye

If you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

I was still a novice at the caped crusader super-sleuth thing, but it didn't take a degree from the Sherlock Holmes Detective School to see exactly what had happened here. Alison had come home, put her lunch in the zapper, poured herself a beverage, turned on her computer and ...
vanished off the face of the earth. ~ Suzanne Brockmann

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

I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock shrugged. "I don't understand the need for power, really. There are more important pursuits."
"Only those who have never felt powerless can afford to think like you. ~ Heather W. Petty

What Sherlock does is train his mind to remember details, access them as needed, and then spy the hidden pattern in them. It's like spotting animals in clouds: The vapor's the same for everyone, but sometimes you're the only person who can see what's floating there, because you have the proper angle and the imagination to see it. And that's the magic of Sherlock Holmes - his talent for synthesis and discovery. Anyone can train the mind to absorb and recall; ~ Kevin Hearne

When you have bewitched or assassinated the unwelcome, whoever remains,
however useless & boring, must be the only audience you still have left!"
-- Warlock Holmes, the Cumber-Batching Speech

Not only my advisers considered the quote above the best I got done at all on the Sherlock Crossover now lying in my failed projects folder... ~ Andrè M. Pietroschek

As a boy, he'd always had some elaborate project that had nothing to do with school. On Summit Avenue, alone in his aerie, he drew the stately homes across the street and numbered the many windows and doors, compiling a detailed log of his neighbors' activities. In sixth grade, simultaneously, he kept a diary concerning the girls he liked and a ledger chronicling every penny he made and spent. These secret fascinations led nowhere in the end, were left mysteriously incomplete like the detective novel he patterned after Sherlock Holmes, to be replaced by his next obsession. At Princeton, when he was supposed to be cramming for exams, he wrote a musical. In the army it was a novel. Nothing had changed. He was still that boy, happiest pursuing some goose chase of his own making, and lost without one. ~ Stewart O'Nan

A yellow fog swirls past the window-pane
As night descends upon this fabled street;
A lonely hansom splashes through the rain,
The ghostly gas lamps fail at twenty feet.
Here, though the world explode, these two survive,
And it is always eighteen ninety-five. ~ Vincent Starrett

There is nothing more to be said or to be done tonight, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellowmen. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

The interesting thing about Sherlock is that he is himself a reflection of that very English duality. As a drug addict, he is a criminal. But he is also a crime fighter. That makes him an extremely potent character to personify the hypocrisy of a culture that is both moralistic and corrupt. ~ Rupert Everett

Jen and Jacquelyn spoke at the same time. "Field of dreams." Jen reached up and fist bumped with Jacquelyn. "Good call Sherlock," she said. "All in a day's work Watson," Jacquelyn responded. ~ Quinn Loftis

I would not bring one shadow on his life, and this I know would break his noble heart. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

A mistake would have been fatal."
-Sherlock Holmes- ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development. Would you have any objection to my running my finger along your parietal fissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull." Sherlock ~ Arthur Conan Doyle