75 pages 2 hours read

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1902

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.”


(Chapter 1, Page 1)

Sherlock Holmes compliments his friend, Dr. John Watson, on his ability to bring out the essentials of a difficult problem with his thoughts and questions. Watson, whose stories about Holmes become the detective’s professional biography, often serves as a sounding board for Holmes’s ideas and speculations. The quote establishes the essential relationship between Watson and Holmes: The doctor is the genius detective’s intellectual sidekick.

Quotation Mark Icon

“I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.”


(Chapter 1, Page 1)

Having complimented Watson on his ability to bring out the detective’s best, Holmes then rewinds the praise and replaces it with what is almost an insult. It is as if Holmes cannot really admit how much Watson’s friendship means to him, so he takes it back. To give Holmes credit, he may mean only to clarify his original compliment (see Quote #1, above), but his critique of Watson makes the doctor seem like a useless fool. It is true that Holmes is head and shoulders above nearly everyone at deduction and inference, and it is not wrong for him to know he is the best, but it may be a social flaw to say so.

Related Titles

By Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

A Case Of Identity

Arthur Conan Doyle

A Case Of Identity

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

A Scandal in Bohemia

Arthur Conan Doyle

A Scandal in Bohemia

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

A Study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle

Plot Summary

logo

His Last Bow

Arthur Conan Doyle

His Last Bow

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Speckled Band

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

The Lost World

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

Arthur Conan Doyle

Study Guide

logo

The Sign of the Four

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of the Four

Arthur Conan Doyle

Plot Summary

logo

The Valley of Fear

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Valley of Fear

Arthur Conan Doyle