If you're an aspiring detective then chances are, you've been rushing to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle for years when it comes to soaking up some noteworthy crime-solving advice.
But even if you're not remotely interested in finding out who did what with what at what time then there's still a lot to gain from Conan Doyle's many excellent Sherlock Holmes tales.
We've picked out 18 pieces of wisdom worth remembering.
Let us know if we've missed off your favourite.
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“Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last.”
His Last Bow
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“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.”
A Case of Identity
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“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
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“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
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“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.”
The Valley of Fear
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“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
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“Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
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“As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is, the less mysterious it proves to be.”
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
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“Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson.”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
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“Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.”
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
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“A man always finds it hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman's love, however badly he may have treated her.”
The Musgrave Ritual
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“It is a capital mistake to theorise before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.”
A Study in Scarlet
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“Some people's affability is more deadly than the violence of coarser souls.”
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
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“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done.”
A Study in Scarlet
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“Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles
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“Anything is better than stagnation.”
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
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“There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles
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“So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a link of it.”
A Study In Scarlet
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(Images: Rex Features)
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