It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes

A little monograph on the ashes of one hundred and forty different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco.

A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem.

You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill.

You're not hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you are not hurt!"
It was worth a wound -- it was worth many wounds -- to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.

Skill is fine, and genius is splendid, but the right contacts are more valuable than either.