It has always seemed to me that so long as you produce your dramatic effect, accuracy of detail matters little. I have never striven for it and I have made some bad mistakes in consequence. What matter if I hold my readers?
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of data and facts in forming theories rather than allowing preconceived notions to distort reality.
Arthur Conan Doyle warns against the danger of forming theories without adequate data. When individuals create theories prematurely, they risk manipulating facts to support their ideas rather than adapting their theories based on the evidence available, which can lead to erroneous conclusions and misunderstandings of the truth.
Themes
DataTheoryFactsEvidenceScience
In practice
Example use cases
During a scientific conference, this quote could be used to emphasize the necessity of data in research presentations.
More from Arthur Conan Doyle
All quotes βI had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air -- or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.
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A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.
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You yourself may not be luminous, but you are a conductor of light.
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I could not rest, Watson, I could not sit quiet in my chair, if I thought that such a man as Professor Moriarty were walking the streets of London unchallenged.
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It seems very strange ... that in the course of the world's history so obvious an improvement should never have been adopted. ... The next generation of Britishers would be the better for having had this extra hour of daylight in their childhood.
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