Quintessential Quote #60

"It is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of the facts."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Second Stain"

There he goes again, insisting on facts.

It may seem obvious to us that a detective reasons backward, starting from firmly established facts. That's how Sherlock Holmes did it. But before him it was not always so. Many of his fictional predecessors operated largely by intuition, with the reader having no chance at all to solve the crime.

When I made a list of methods employed by Holmes in his adventures, beginning with A Study in Scarlet, one of the ones that stood out was on-scene investigation. He wasn't an armchair detective. Although he sometimes said later that he had it figured out before he left Baker Street, he still went to the scene.

Why was he so ambulatory? Because the only way to get the facts was to see, observe, and sometimes measure in person.

However, one aspect of Holmes that we often overlook in our admiration of the great detective is that he often offers a preliminary theory that turns out to be far from the mark, as in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" or "Silver Blaze." How did this happen? He didn't have all the facts before he theorized.

Like most of us, Sherlock Holmes sometimes forgot his own best advice!     

This will be the last numbered Quintessential Quote. I decided to cut off the feature at the canonically significant number of 60. I will offer bonus quotes from time to time, but not on any regular basis and they will not be numbered. What's your favorite quote from Sherlock Holmes?

Quintessential Quote #59

"I am accustomed to have mystery at one end of my cases, but to have it at both ends is too confusing."
--  Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"

If you don't remember the context of this epigramatic quote, you may think it means exactly the opposite of what it does.

When Holmes talks about being accustomed to having mystery at "one end of my cases," that's sounds (to me, at least) as if he's talking about the front end. There's a mystery at the beginning of every case, right?

But he's actually referring to having a mystery at the client end of the case as opposed to the villain end of the case. Sir James Damery, acting as intermediary, refuses to tell Holmes the identify of the "illustrious client."  The continuation of Holmes's quote is, "I fear, Sir James, that I must decline to act."

Nevertheless, Holmes takes the case without finding out the identity of the client. And it is hard to see why.

Sir James makes an appeal that Holmes listen to the facts of the problem. Holmes agrees, stressing that "I commit myself to nothing."  After Sir James the presentation, Holmes says the problem interests him and "I shall be prepared to look into it." But he doesn't find out who the client is until the end of the case. 

One can only assume that Holmes decided to live with the confusion.

Quintessential Quote #58

"I can discover facts, Watson, but I cannot change them."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Problem of Thor Bridge."

Obviously, Sherlock Holmes was not a politician.

In a previous post, I established that Holmes was not the unemotional "mere brain" that he often portrays himself. He has feelings. When it comes to solving crimes, however, he vigorously sifts out facts from emotions, assumptions, and speculations. It is upon the facts that he makes deductions and builds his case.

In our Twitterverse -- in which more than ever "logic is rare," facts are rarer, and most political arguments go no deeper than a bumper stickes -- perhaps it is this counter-cultural obsession with facts that makes Holmes such an appealing figure. 

Well, I don't insist.

Quintessential Quote #57

"What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done."
-- Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, Part II, Chapter VII, "The Conclusion"

A public relations pioneer named Edward Bernays, who was a nephew of Sigmund Freud and lived to be 103 years old, has been called 'The Father of Spin." But maybe he got the idea from Sherlock Holmes!

In this very first tale, Holmes is bitter that he does all the work and Scotland Yard gets all the credit. Later, he cheerfully tells the various inspectors that the work is its own reward and they can have the credit. But how do we know that? Because Watson tells us so in stories that Holmes allowed to be published! So methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

When Holmes tells Senator J. Neal Gibson in "The Problem of Thor Bridge" that "I do not think that I am need of booming," it is because he has already been well boomed by the good Watson in dozens of stories.

What I am suggesting is that Holmes paid more attention to developing his reputation, and thereby his career, than it might seem if you take his words at face value. For all his grumblings about Watson's stories as romantic exaggerations, he never told him to stop. As a consequence, he becomes "the famous detective" in later stories, and characters often indicate they know him by reputation.

That reputation could have been even stronger, it seems to me, if he hadn't explained his deductions. Every time he did, Watson or someone else always said, "How absurdly simple!" or something along those lines.

What do you think -- was Sherlock Holmes, through Watson, a self-promoter?

Quintessential Quote #56

"You won't fail me. You never did fail me."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Dying Detective"

This line is easy to overlooking because Holmes says it to Watson in the midst of a lot of babble, much of it nonsense, while he is pretending to be delerious.

What makes the line intresting to us Watsonians (and what Sherlockian isn't also a Watsonian?) is that it's so true. Never mind that on several occasions Holmes dispatched Watson on some detective's errand which he failed to execute properly -- as he had several times before. One can hardly call the inability to be Sherlock Holmes a failure.

On a much deeper level than that, on the level of friendship and loyalty, Watson never did fail Holmes. He was always there when needed (poor Mrs. Watsons). And he put his life on the line for his friend almost every time Holmes asked him to bring along his revolver.

Watson is Holmes's rock and Holmes knows it. Victorian Englishman that he is, however, he would never come right out and say that -- unless, perhaps, he had the excuse of being delirious!

Quintessential Quote #55

"Excellent, Watson! You scintillate to-day."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"

Scintillate, meaning to throw off sparks or to sparkle, is an uncommon word. And yet Holmes uses it twice in referring to Dr. Watson's modest efforts at walking in the Master's footsteps. (The other occasion is in "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter": "You are scintillating this evening."

It's hard to know quite how to read this. Certainly Holmes is over-praising. But to what end? I've always assumed he's being sarcastic and therefore cruel. Perhaps, though, his intention was kind -- that of encouraging his old friend. It is pleasant to think so.

At any rate, it is not over-praising in the least to say that Scintillation of Scions V, celebrated on Saturday in Laurel, Maryland, was scintillating.

Jacquelynn Morris of Watson's Tin Box started SoS five years ago with the dream that it would be a Sherlockian family reunion. With an unexpectedly high 81 participants this year ranging in age from 15 to well past normal retirement age, that's exactly what it felt like to me.

As a first-time participant in this well-organized and affordable event, I was bowled over. The talks were all so first rate that I can't single one out. The afternoon tea was splendid, and thanks to Jacqueline's talk I now know the difference between high tea and afternoon tea. (Oops, I guess I did single one out.)

As with any such event, meeting new friends was one of the highlights for me. Increasingly, that means meeting in person people that one has already become friends with virtually (Matt Laffey, Kristina, Jacquelynn). I don't think that person-to-person contact will ever cease to be important.

Sherlockians are an impressive group of people. When the fire alarm went off, no one panicked. When the sound failed on a clip of a "Sherlock" episode, Christine McAndrews of SherlockNYC obligingly recited it from memory -- with the accent!

My memory, alas, is not that great. But I will not soon forget Scintillation of Scions V.

Quintessential Quote #54

"I never get your limits, Watson. There are unexplored possibilities about you."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"

We are in deep waters here, for this quote is doubly ironic.

On the first level there is the intended irony -- or perhaps even sarcasm -- on the part of Holmes. The detective would seem, out of context, to be paying a high compliment to his old comrade in arms. But he's actually putting him down. He's saying that Watson is incredibly naive for believing that "Big Bob Ferguson, the finest three-quarter Richmond ever had" was really seeking help for a friend, not for himself.

And I suppose he's right.

But there's also a double irony here in that what Holmes says is truer than he realizes: Holmes doesn't get Watson's limits or explore his possibilities. He constantly throws the good doctor into situations in which he cannot help but fail -- and then blames him for failing! Yet he expects he him to be always available ("COME AT ONCE IF CONVENIENT . . . "), even referring to his later-in-life marriage as a selfish act!

On the subject of friends, Holmes told Watson in "The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips," "Except yourself, I have none." No wonder!

Quintessential Quote #53

"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."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Copper Beaches"

William Bolitho, in a passage that I love, called Holmes "the spirit of a town and a time." The town, of course, is London. And yet it is astonishing how many of his adventures take him outside of London proper and into the countryside. Sometimes that countryside is a bedroom community of London, sometimes farther afield.

It would be tedious to list examples, but almost half of the tales in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- five out of twelve -- take Holmes out of the city down country lanes for at least part of the story. So do half of book-length adventures -- The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. (I don't know about The Sign of Four. Pondicherry Lodge is not in the city, but I'm not sure it would be considered country, either.)

Maybe Sherlock Holmes wore that style of country cap called a deerstalker more often than we Holmes fans generally believe. What do you think?

Quintessential Quote #52

"I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone"

This is a very Holmesian quote, reminiscent of "I use my head, not my heart" from "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client." Most probably, Holmes even thought that it was true. But it wasn't.

The Canon is full of examples of Sherlock Holmes being emotional, even sentimental. A few come to mind immediately:

• Holmes turns down the offer of an emerald snake ring from the King of Bohemia as a gift for his service, requesting instead a photograph of Irene Adler.
• James Ryder in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is just the first of numerous villains -- some of them murderers -- that Holmes allows to escape for essentially sentimental reasons.
• On the other hand, he assures Killer Evans in "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs," "If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive."

No, Holmes was not a just a brain. He was a fully rounded human being. For professional reasons he generally tried to triumph over his softer emotions, but he did not lack them.

What's your favorite example of the emotional Sherlock Holmes?

Quintessential Quote #51

"It is the first quality of a criminal investigator that he should see through a disguise."
-- Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Ch. 13

In my recent talk on A Study in Scarlet at "A Gathering of Southern Sherlockians," I enumerated eight techniques that Sherlock Holmes uses throughout his career (not including deduction and eliminating the impossible, which occur in every story).

Of these eight, only one -- disguise -- does not occur in A Study in Scarlet. In fact, disguise is used against Holmes in chapter five, causing the detective to cry, "We were the old women to be fooled." 

So perhaps the above quote can be read as a cry from the heart based on the experience of a cocksure young sleuth who found that he had a lot to learn.

Quintessential Quote #49

"Dogs don't make mistakes."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place"

Could Sherlock Holmes possibly have believed that dogs don't make mistakes? The canonical evidence is against it.

Certainly, the spaniel in "Shoscombe Old Place" didn't make a mistake, nor did Professor Presbury's wolfhound in "The Crooked Man," nor did the dog who did nothing in the night-time. And we cannot fault those wonderful tracking dogs, Toby in The Sign of Four and Carlo in Pompey in "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter."

But what about Jephro Rucastle's Carlo and the unnamed Hound of the Baskervilles? Surely they made mistakes -- they got themselves killed! 

And what about Victor Trevor's bull terrier, who froze on Holmes's ankle one morning while he was going down to chapel in college? Wasn't that a mistake?

No, dogs are not infallible. Perhaps Holmes was dyslexic and really meant to say "God doesn't make mistakes."

What do you think?

I will have much more to say in my talk, "Sherlock Holmes Gone to the Dogs: Canine Capers, Canonical and Otherwise," which I will present at the 26th annual Sherlock Holmes/ Arthur Conan Doyle Symposium in Dayton, Ohio, on May 19. I hope to see you there.

Quintessential Quote #48

" Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Red Circle"

The wisdom of this statement is probably much more apparent to me now than it was when I first read it more than four decades ago.

My own life's journey certainly has been filled with lessons. And I hope that the greatest is saved for last -- although I am in no hurry to find out!

When did Holmes receive that last lesson? David Ruffle's new book, Holmes and Watson: End Peace, records the death of Sherlock Holmes as happening in 1929. William S. Baring-Gould, in Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, put the event much later, in 1957.

Messers Ruffle and Baring-Gould are in good company: The first author to write about the death of  Holmes (except perhaps in parodies) was . . .  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in "The Final Problem." Of course, that wasn't permanent.


Count me with Vincent Starrett, who argued that Sherlock Holmes "never lived, and so can never die." After all, his obituary has never appeared in The Times of London.

Quintessential Quote #47

"Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" 

Whenever I read this splendid quote, the crisp, sonorous voice I hear in my head is that of Basil Rathbone. I don't know if that's from listening to the recording of him reading the story or from hearing his radio version.

At any rate, the quote has always seemed to be like a set piece, by which I mean a nice piece of writing that was just dropped into the story rather than flowing out of it. It's almost as though Holmes is quoting something else. So far as I know, he is not.

Another strange aspect for me is the phrase "in truth," as if Holmes is saying, "See, I told you so."

Many villains in the Canon are dispatched before they can be brought before the bar of justice, but I can't think of another who met a fate similar to that of Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Can you?

Quintessential Quote #46

"Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Copper Beaches"

I'm not sure whether crime is more or less common than it was in the late Victorian era, but I'm convinced that logic is even more rare!

However, let's focus on the third sentence of this familiar complaint to Dr. Watson. Not for the first or last time, Holmes is criticizing what he sees as the good doctor's emphasis on the sensational in his cases and the lost opportunity to make them instructional.

As a mystery writer myself, it's easy for me to say that this critique is as uninformed as it is unfair. But don't take my word for it. Read this:

"I am compelled to admit that, having taken my pen in my hand, I do begin to realize that the matter must be presented in such a way as may interest the reader."

You may recognize those words of Sherlock Holmes from the first paragraph of "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," the first adventure that he wrote up himself.

Later on in the story, Holmes shows further appreciation for the art of the story-teller: "Alas, that I should have to show my hand so when I tell my own story! It was by concealing such links in the chain that Watson was enabled to produce his meretricious finales."

I know just what he means. That's why I decided, like Arthur Conan Doyle, Rex Stout, and so many before me, to write my mysteries from the point of a view of narrator who is not the detective.

Whose accounts would you rather read, those written by Watson or those written by Holmes?

Quintessential Quote #45

"Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wise, better England of the future."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Naval Treaty"

At times the great detective waxes lyrical, and this is one of them. He is talking about the Victorian board schools, which were public elementary schools run by boards..

Presumably taking its inspiration from this quote is The Beacon Society, a group "supporting and recognizing exemplary educational experiences that introduce young people to the Sherlock Holmes stories." It's a scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars.

One of the group's activities is an annual awarding of the Stauber Grant, which provides up to $250 in assistance for developing a teaching project that will introduce more young people to Sherlock Holmes. The deadline for this year's round of applications has been extended to May 1, 2012. Applications from Canada as well as the U.S.are welcomed.

Each year the societ also names a Beacon Award winner, most recently William S. Dorn, B.S.I., Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at The University of Denver. The author of five books about Sherlock Holmes, Dorn has taught his undergraduate students about the logical reasoning and adventures of Sherlock Holmes for 30 years.

The Beacon Society is certainly a most worthy organization, and I was pleased to recently "Like" the Society's Fan Page on Facebook. Learn more on the group's website, including how you can support its activities. Another form of support would be to purchase the book Tales From the Strangers Room, edited by David Ruffle. Proceeds go to support the Beacon Society.

Who have been your beacons to the world of Sherlock Holmes?

Quintessential Quote #44

"What is the meaning of it, Watson? What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end? There is the great standing perennial problem to which human reason is as far from an answer as ever."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"

Who among us has not wondered that from time to time, especially at the most challenging moments of our lives? Perhaps that is why this quote is rather well known among Sherlockians.

It is a puzzling question, one that philosophers and theologians have been tackling for centuries. The great detective only asks the question, he doesn't offer his own solution. He does, however, in another place give his viewpoint on how to deal with situations like the one that provoked his cri-de-coeur.

In "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger," he advises the horribly disfigured title character against taking her own life. She wonders what use it is to anyone. "How can you tell?" he responds. "The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world."

The great detective was also a philosopher, and perhaps even a theologian.

Quintessential Quote #43

"Well, well, I suppose I shall have to compound a felony as usual."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Three Gables"

How do I love this quote? Let me count the ways!

First, the general wryness is charming. Holmes is exhibiting what he referred to in Dr. Watson as "a certain pawky humor." One can almost hear him pause before saying "as usual," perhaps with a theatrical sigh.

Second, the way this quote refers to Holmes' past actions makes those familiar with the great detective's adventures feel right at home. We know from experience that he's not exaggerating -- Holmes really does compound felonies a lot.

In my recent read-through of the Canon, I counted four occasions on which he committed burglaries. (Legal hairsplitters say they were not burglaries under British law because no crime was intended, but to me they were burglaries.) I didn't count the numberous times he let the criminal go, but "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," "The Crooked Man," and "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" spring to mind.

Third, Holmes is clearly telling the truth here -- which he does not do when he claims in "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" that "I use my head, not my heart." In every case in which he lets the villain go, he is doing it for a heart reason, not a head reason.

The frequent assertions of Sherlock Holmes that he is no more than a brain, an "ideal reasoner" may reflect his own self-understanding, but they do not reflect the reality. In truth, Holmes had a great heart as well as a great mind.

Quintessential Quote #42

"We can but try -- the motto of the firm."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man"

This quote intrigues me for several reasons.

At first blush, "we can but try" doesn't sound like Holmes. He is usually, let us say, rather more sure of himself. But this is actually one of two places in the Canon where he make that modest statement. The other is in "The Problem of Thor Bridge."

The current quote is provoked by Dr. Watson making the comment first. Holmes repeats it, adding that charming phrase "the motto of the firm."

At least, I find it charming that Holmes doesn't consider himself an independent operator but a member of a firm -- presumably a firm of just two. In "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," he similarly makes reference to "this agency."

In several passages throughout the Canon, Dr. Watson refers to "our client." The plural isn't presumptuous on his part. The doctor and the detective were truly partners -- Holmes & Watson, Consulting Detectives.

Quintessential Quote #41

"Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department."
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Second Stain"

This is one of those statements that seems undeniable.

By his own account in The Sign of Four, the good doctor has "an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents." He was married at least twice, and many scholars say three times. One commentator makes it five times!

Watson's appeal to women is easy to understand: He is noble, fearless, loyal, and considerate. Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand? Not so much!

But before we rush to agree that as a lover Holmes "would be putting himself in a false position," look at the data. Disguised as the plumber Escott, Holmes wooed and won Charles Augustus Milverton's maid, Agatha, in what seems to be record time. He must have had something going for him!

In fact, he was often kind and sympathetic in his treatment of female clients. Watson is disappointed that he shows no further interest in Violet Hunter once her case is solved -- an indication that such an interest was at least a possibility in Watson's mind. Was his courting of Agatha really all that unpleasant to him? One wonders whether the man did not protest too much.

And didn't Holmes somewhere mention "my son, should I ever chance to have one" -- again admitting of the theoretical possibility?

It's true that Holmes said that "women are never to be trusted, Watson, not even the best of them." And I've never doubted Watson's assessment that Holmes did not feel "any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler." Respect and admiration were what he felt.

But that doesn't mean that Watson was the only one of the duo who any appreciation for or understanding of women. In fact, I suspect that when Watson wrote that Holmes "disliked and distrusted the sex," he was only half right.

What say you, Baker Street Babes?

Quintessential Quote #40

Come at once if convenient -- if inconvenient, come all the same. S.H.
-- Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Creeping Man"

One of the most quintessential all of all Sherlock Holmes quotes is one he didn't say -- he sent it as a laconic message (presumably as a telegram, although that is not stated) to Watson in September 1903.

Immediately after that text in the short story comes a priceless paragraph that begins: "The relations between us in those days were peculiar." They certainly were!

All in all, the opening page or so of this very late story in the Canon vindicates my observation that the later stories are much better than their reputation.

But back to the quote: It is certainly vintage Holmes -- self-centered and imperious. I'm reminded of a conversation I once had with John McAleer, Rex Stout's "Watson." He told me that his wife Ruth asked him, "Are we supposed to like Nero Wolfe?" The same could be asked of Sherlock Holmes.

If I recall correctly, John muttered to Ruth something about "respect." But I actually do like Wolfe and Homes, for all their flaws -- or perhaps because of them. I wouldn't want to live with either of them, though.

And one more thing: Both of these great detectives showed, time and again, that knew they were only at their best with their Boswell at their side. Being more of a Boswell than a Johnson myself, I have to love them for that.