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?
To his eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year, Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we passed, The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a contrast between beauty and sadness in nature, emphasizing the transient beauty of the countryside in autumn.
In this quote, Arthur Conan Doyle captures the duality of beauty and melancholy as observed in the autumn countryside. While one character sees the landscape as beautiful, the speaker notices the signs of decay and the passage of time, represented by the yellow leaves and rotting vegetation. This evokes a sense of nostalgia and sadness, highlighting how nature can be both captivating and sorrowful, particularly as it signifies the end of a cycle.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a nature walk, I shared this quote to illustrate the beauty and sadness of the changing seasons.
More from Arthur Conan Doyle
All quotes →I 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.
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.
You yourself may not be luminous, but you are a conductor of light.
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.
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.
Similar quotes
There can be no doubt that a society rooted in the soil is more stable than _x000D_ one rooted in pavements.
Some people mistakenly think nature is very nice and benevolent and never betrays.
A golf course should aspire to generate as much energy as it consumes - golf should be leading the way toward energy net zero.
After the Green Revolution, I came up with the concept of the Evergreen Revolution. In this we will see increase in farm productivity but without ecological harm.
When the forest and the city are functionally indistinguishable, then we know we have reached sustainability.
Fireflies in the Garden By Robert Frost 1874–1963 Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies, That though they never equal stars in size, (And they were never really stars at heart) Achieve at times a very star-like start. Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.