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
I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker acknowledges their flaws but believes they possess more goodness than perceived by others.
In this quote, the speaker reflects on their character, admitting to their shortcomings while asserting that they are better than what they are credited for. This highlights the complexity of human nature and the often-misjudged capabilities for goodness that individuals possess. It calls into question perceptions and emphasizes that everyone has the potential for positive qualities that may not be recognized by others.
Themes
CharacterPerceptionKindnessSelf-AwarenessHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-improvement and recognizing one's own value.
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.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
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.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
You yourself may not be luminous, but you are a conductor of light.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
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.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
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.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
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