If you're an aspiring detective then chances are, you've been rushing to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle for years when it comes to soaking up some noteworthy crime-solving advice.
But even if you're not remotely interested in finding out who did what with what at what time then there's still a lot to gain from Conan Doyle's many excellent Sherlock Holmes tales.
We've picked out 18 pieces of wisdom worth remembering.
Let us know if we've missed off your favourite.
_______________________________________________________
“Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last.”
His Last Bow
_______________________________________________________
“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.”
A Case of Identity
_______________________________________________________
“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
_______________________________________________________
“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.”
The Valley of Fear
_______________________________________________________
“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is, the less mysterious it proves to be.”
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson.”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“A man always finds it hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman's love, however badly he may have treated her.”
The Musgrave Ritual
_______________________________________________________
“It is a capital mistake to theorise before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.”
A Study in Scarlet
_______________________________________________________
“Some people's affability is more deadly than the violence of coarser souls.”
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
_______________________________________________________
“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done.”
A Study in Scarlet
_______________________________________________________
“Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles
_______________________________________________________
“Anything is better than stagnation.”
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
_______________________________________________________
“There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles
_______________________________________________________
“So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a link of it.”
A Study In Scarlet
_______________________________________________________
(Images: Rex Features)
