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
No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People only focus on minor issues if they find it important or worthwhile.
This quote suggests that individuals typically do not concern themselves with trivial matters unless there is a compelling reason to do so. It emphasizes the idea that our mental energy is often directed towards issues of significance, and when we engage with smaller matters, it is usually because they hold some importance or necessity in our lives.
Themes
FocusImportanceMindReasonTriviality
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting, when discussing project priorities.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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