Quotes by Arthur Conan Doyle

About Arthur Conan Doyle:

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician, most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them.

Arthur Conan Doyle

I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.

Arthur Conan Doyle

There is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless.

Arthur Conan Doyle

I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner.

Arthur Conan Doyle

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.

Arthur Conan Doyle

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

Arthur Conan Doyle

Nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person.

Arthur Conan Doyle

A trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Circumstantial evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example.

Arthur Conan Doyle

You will, I am sure, agree with me that... if page 534 only finds us in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable.

Arthur Conan Doyle

As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The ideal reasoner, he remarked, would, when he had once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which would follow from it.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The big blank spaces in the map are all being filled in, and there's no room for romance anywhere.

Arthur Conan Doyle

There is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle reek which comes from an ancient book.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods.

Arthur Conan Doyle

It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.

Arthur Conan Doyle

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.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Why should you go further in it? What have you to gain from it?' 'What, indeed? It is art for art's sake, Watson. I suppose when you doctored, you found yourself studying cases without thought of a fee?' 'For my education, Holmes.' 'Education never e...

Arthur Conan Doyle

Author Bio

  • NameArthur Conan Doyle
  • DescriptionScottish physician and writer
  • AliasesSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle; Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
  • BornMay 22, 1859
  • DiedJuly 7, 1930
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionPhysician; Writer; Poet; Cricketer; Novelist; Politician; Essayist; Playwright; Autobiographer; Librettist
  • WorksSherlock Holmes Canonical Works; The Lost World
  • AwardsVenerable Order Of Saint John; Deputy Lieutenant