# The most famous Sherlock Holmes quotes (from the books)

"When you have eliminated the impossible…", "You see, but you do not observe" and "The game is afoot": the best-known lines of Sherlock Holmes as Arthur Conan Doyle wrote them, with the novel or story each comes from.

- 61 votes · 14 items
- Sep 6, 2020 · millie_brighton
- https://even.best/en/l/5051/the-most-famous-sherlock-holmes-quotes-from-the-books

## Top 14

1. **When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — The Sign of the Four (1890).
2. **It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — A Scandal in Bohemia (1891).
3. **My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (1892).
4. **Singularity is almost invariably a clue.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — The Boscombe Valley Mystery (1891).
5. **You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — The Boscombe Valley Mystery (1891).
6. **You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — A Scandal in Bohemia (1891).
7. **"Come, Watson, come!" he cried. "The game is afoot."** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — The Adventure of the Abbey Grange (1904).
8. **There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — The Boscombe Valley Mystery (1891).
9. **It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — A Study in Scarlet (1887).
10. **Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — A Case of Identity (1891).
11. **It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The Man with the Twisted Lip (1891).
12. **There is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace.** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — A Case of Identity (1891).
13. **I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles.** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (1926).
14. **I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?** (-1 · ▲1 ▼2) — The Sign of the Four (1890).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.