The Valley of Fear Quotes

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Everything comes in circles. [...] The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I say, Watson,’ he whispered, ‘would you be afraid to sleep in the same room as a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?’
‘Not in the least,’ I answered in astonishment.
‘Ah, that’s lucky,’ he said, and not another word would he utter that night.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Should I ever marry, Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying within a few yards of her.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“It is, I admit, mere imagination; but how often is imagination the mother of truth?”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Is he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it?”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Birdy Edwards is here. I am Birdy Edwards!”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“here at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers which, like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use. That razor brain blunted and rusted with inaction.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Well Holmes", I murmured, "have you found anything out?"
He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined towards me. "I say, Watson", he whispered, "would you be afraid to sleep in the same room with a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?"
"Not in the least," I answered in astonishment.
"Ah, that's lucky," he said, and not another word would he utter that night.”
― Arthur conan doyle, The Valley of Fear

“The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Well, what are we to do now?" asked MacDonald with some gruffness. "Possess our souls in patience and make as little noise as possible," Holmes answered.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Dark nights are unpleasant,"
"Yes, for strangers to travel,"
"The clouds are heavy."
"Yes, a storm is approaching.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Mr. Mac, the most practical thing that you ever did in your life would be to shut yourself up for three months and read twelve hours a day at the annals of crime.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I am inclined to think—" said I. "I should do so," Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently. I believe that I am one of the most long-suffering of mortals; but I'll admit that I was annoyed at the sardonic interruption. "Really, Holmes," said I severely, "you are a little trying at times.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I am not a whole sole admirer of womankind – as you are aware, Watson.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Do you tell me that we have to sit down underthis? Do you say that no one can ever get level withthis king-devil?”

“No, I don’t say that,” said Holmes, and his
eyes seemed to be looking far into the future. “I don’t say that he can’t be beat. But you must giveme time—you must give me time!”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Todo viene en círculo. [...] La vieja rueda se vuelve, y el mismo discurso se repite. Todo ya ha sido hecho antes, y lo será de nuevo.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“The interplay of ideas and the oblique uses of knowledge are often of extraordinary interest.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“The funds are good at the moment," said the treasurer, with the bankbook in front of him. "The firms have been generous of late. Max Linder & Co. paid five hundred to be left alone. Walker Brothers sent in a hundred; but I took it on myself to return it and ask for five. If I do not hear by Wednesday, their winding gear may get out of order. We had to burn their breaker last year before they became reasonable. Then the West Section Coaling Company has paid its annual contribution. We have enough on hand to meet any obligations." "What”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I took a stroll in the curious old-world garden which flanked the house. Rows of very ancient yew trees cut into strange designs girded it round. Inside was a beautiful stretch of lawn with an old sundial in the middle, the whole effect so soothing and restful that it was welcome to my somewhat jangled nerves.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Lying across his chest was a curious weapon, a shotgun with the barrel sawed off a foot in front of the triggers. It was clear that this had been fired at close range and that he had received the whole charge in the face, blowing his head almost to pieces. The triggers had been wired together, so as to make the simultaneous discharge more destructive.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Because it is done by a man who cannot afford to fail, one whose whole unique position depends upon the fact that all he does must succeed. A great brain and a huge organization have been turned to the extinction of one man. It is crushing the nut with the triphammer—an absurd extravagance of energy—but the nut is very effectually crushed all the same.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“du charme que diffusent”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, La Vallée de la peur

“No, no! Darkness and Dr. Watson’s umbrella - my wants are simple.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I shall sit in that room and see if its atmosphere
brings me inspiration. I’m a believer in the genius loci. You smile, Friend Watson. Well, we shall see. By the way, you have that big umbrella of yours, have you not? … Well, I’ll borrow that if I may.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Dear me, Watson, is it possible that you have not penetrated the fact that the case hangs upon the missing dumb-bell? […]One dumb-bell, Watson! Consider an athlete with one dumb-bell! Picture to yourself the unilateral development, the imminent danger of a spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking!”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“A long series of sterile weeks lay behind us, and here at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers, which, like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use. That razor brain blunted and rusted with inaction.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Well, the name has a familiar sound. Someone in a novel, was he not? I don’t take much stock of detectives in novels - chaps that do things and never let you see how they do them. That’s just inspiration: not business.’
‘Johnathan Wild wasn’t a detective, and he wasn’t in a novel. He was a master criminal, and he lived last century - 1750 or thereabouts.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“Ay, that’s remarkable,’ said the inspector thoughtfully. ‘Talk away, Mr. Holmes. I’m just loving it. It’s fine!”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear