Quotes

The fundament upon which all our knowledge and learning rests is the inexplicable.

the teaching of my philosophy... that our whole existence is something which had better not have been, and that to disown and disclaim it is the highest wisdom.

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a counter--an avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy.

Of course, it is no easy matter to be polite; in so far, I mean, as it requires us to show great respect for everybody, whereas most people deserve none at all.

The first forty years of life furnish the text, while the remaining thirty supply the commentary.

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.

It’s every man’s business to see justice done.

Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.

It is easy to be wise after the event.

You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.

There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.

I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers.

Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner.

A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.