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
Indeed, I cannot think why the whole bed of the ocean is not one solid mass of oysters, so prolific the creatures seem. Ah, I am wandering! Strange how the brain controls the brain! What was I saying, Watson?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the abundance of life in the ocean and the wandering nature of thought.
Arthur Conan Doyle's quote captures a moment of whimsical contemplation on the prolific nature of oysters in the ocean, suggesting that if they are so abundant, the seafloor should be entirely covered with them. It goes on to illustrate the fleeting and sometimes chaotic nature of human thought, as he humorously acknowledges his distraction, asking, 'What was I saying, Watson?' This interplay between the richness of life and the wandering mind invites reflections on both the vastness of nature and the intricacies of human consciousness.
Themes
OceanLifeThoughtAbundanceNature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the mysteries of ocean life, one could quote this to highlight the wonder of nature's potential.
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.
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.
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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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