Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

"A study in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a little art jargon? There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

"It is a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a brain must have something in it."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

"How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!"

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I

"I must apologize for calling so late," said he, "and I must further beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back garden wall."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I