"I have already explained to you that what is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance. In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backward. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practice it much. In the everyday affairs of life it is more useful to reason forward, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Part 2, chap. 7, p. 83
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Sherlock Holmes
163 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Sherlock Holmes →
Related Quotes
"It is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his …"
"It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes’ requests, for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put fo…"
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."
"As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thor…"
"A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can…"
"It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles."
"My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know."
"Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to…"
"You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles."
"On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in…"