Category Archives: SHERLOCK HOLMES

One of the immortal statements made by the Insuperable Detective, Sherlock Holmes, was this: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” This statement may be accurate in the conventional sense. However, I have observed that the following is also an accurate statement: All “truth” is relative to all other truth. Indeed, in the history of humanity have we observed that “One man’s truth is another man’s heresy”. Illusions, delusions, truth, reality, opinion, facts, history, fantasy and fiction all share an indivisible common denominator: The point of view of each individual. Therefore, reality may be nothing more than a subjective experience! You may discover a new “reality” in this adventure of a singularly ingenious investigation conducted by Sherlock Sherrinford Holmes, and his brother Mycroft Spencer Holmes.

SHERLOCK HOLMES COMMENTS ABOUT OSCAR WILDE

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“The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated.”
— Oscar Wilde

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“The most difficult task for the rational observer is to avoid becoming, through empathy or introspection, that which one observes.  This ability, applied, enables a detective to emulate the impulses of the criminal – no matter how insane or counter-survival the result of their behavior might be.  Fortunately, one need not become a criminal in order to fully comprehend the demented universe of these insane creatures!

Many years ago I read about the case of the Irish poet, Oscar Wilde, a man of great intelligence and artistic sensibilities.  The man, although married, with children, who was a respectable person of society, was attracted into a licentious life through association with decadent perverts. It ruined him thoroughly, causing him to lose all that he had gained in reputation, respect, possessions and freedom.

This once great and clever man was cast out from society, and imprisoned to serve for two years of hard labour.  As such, he was removed from contact with the depraved associates who precipitated his undoing.  During the interval of his imprisonment he applied the innate intellect which elevated him above the multitude, to reflect upon the essence of his existence.

Here is a small portion of a letter he wrote to an associate which was published in the London Times obituary notice of his passing:

“When first I was put into prison some people advised me to try and forget who I was. It was ruinous advice. It is only by realising what I am that I have found comfort of any kind. Now I am advised by others to try on my release to forget that I have ever been in a prison at all. I know that would be equally fatal.

It would mean that I would always be haunted by an intolerable sense of disgrace, and that those things that are meant for me as much as for anybody else – the beauty of the sun and moon, the pageant of the seasons, the music of daybreak and the silence of great nights, the rain falling through the leaves, or the dew creeping over the grass and making it silver – would all be tainted for me, and lose their healing power, and their power of communicating joy. To deny one’s own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one’s own life. It is no less than a denial of the soul.”

I have concluded that criminality, and insanity – forms of the same disease – are contagious.  In human society, as with the cancerous cells of a dying body, a healthy cell can be corrupted or overwhelmed by proximity to or interaction with the cancer.  Therefore, I esteem that it is important to differentiate and segregate the sane from the insane, the healthy from the unhealthy, and likewise, the identification of the spirit with the body.”

— Excerpt from SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer

WE’RE ALL MAD HERE

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CHESHIRE CAT

“I suppose you are right Mr. Holmes. It is difficult, if not impossible, to stay apace of your ability to remain logical in the face of a situation which is so absurdly enigmatic. You are proposing that the philosophical paradigm of reality should be considered of equal importance with fiction. How can you ever solve a criminal case, your occupation, if every piece of hard evidence could be a contrivance of imagination on the part of the investigator or of the criminal?”, said Mr. Dodgson.

“Quite the contrary”, I said. “But rather than keeping to my methods alone, let me ask you what meaning you attribute to the following passage in your book”, I said, turning to the page which described in the encounter between Alice and the Cheshire Cat.

“Let me read your own words to you.”

“…she was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off.

The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she

thought: still it had VERY long claws and a great many teeth, so she

felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

‘Cheshire Puss,’ she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know

whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.

‘Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice, and she went on. ‘Would you

tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

‘I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.

‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

‘–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,’ Alice added as an explanation.

‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long

enough.’

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question.

‘What sort of people live about here?’

Sherlock Holmes Audio on AUDIBLE.COM and iTUNES‘In THAT direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives

a Hatter: and in THAT direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March

Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’

‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.

‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad.

You’re mad.’

‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.

‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’

Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on ‘And how

do you know that you’re mad?'”

“So, Mr. Dodgson, let me pose the same question to you that young Alice asked of the chimerical cat in your own story: how do you know whether you are mad or not mad? How would you satisfy yourself that I am not mad? How do we know that everyone is mad or not mad?”, I said, rising from my chair to place the manuscript upon the sideboard. 

I refilled my pipe once again, in anticipation of the protracted debate that was sure to follow on the heels of these profoundly, absurd, yet existential queries and arguments.

Mr. Dodgson did not seem the least bit nonplussed by my insinuation  regarding his sanity, or the sanity of all. Rather, he thanked us very cordially for our hospitality, rose from his chair and reached the door to exit the apartment. As he reached the door he turned back to me. 

“Mr. Holmes, I will leave the resolution of this mystery entirely in your very capable hands. If anyone were able to solve the questions you pose to me, I assure you that I am not that man. Neither are any of the mentors whom I have studied, including Sir Isaac himself. I trust that you will be kind enough to inform me of your eventual success, if such is possible. Good day to you, gentlemen”.”

Excerpted from the book SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer

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SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

One of the immortal statements made by the Insuperable Detective, Sherlock Holmes, was this:

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

This statement may be  accurate in the conventional sense.  However, I have observed that the following is also an accurate statement:

All “truth” is relative to all other truth.

Indeed,  in the history of humanity have we observed that “One man’s truth is another man’s heresy”.

Illusions, delusions, truth, reality, opinion, facts, history, fantasy and fiction all share an indivisible common denominator:  The point of view of each individual. Therefore, reality may be nothing more than a subjective experience!

You may discover a new “reality” in this adventure of a singularly ingenious investigation conducted by Sherlock Sherrinford Holmes, and his brother Mycroft Spencer Holmes.

Is reality an illusion?  Is history a fictitious trail of lies?

Read.  Discover.  Decide.

You can review and buy the book on the website of the publisher:  SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE


MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF

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“The written record of my adventures as conveyed by Dr. John Hamish Watson, rather than myself, as you will read herein, are a fallacious perversion of the reality of my own identity and activities.  None of the facts you will read herein have ever been surmised, supposed and imagined with respect to any of my adventures.  Indeed, the nature and identity of the dramatis personae on the stage of the intrigue I relate to you now have never before been revealed.  I invite you to join this escapade, if you will indulge me, into my ultimate adventure.  Moreover, I trust that posterity will inherit some small benefit from these observations upon the volatile process, distillation and residue of my life. “

Sherlock Holmes,  Sussex Downs, England”

— Excerpt from the book SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE, by Lawrence R. Spencer

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Here is some background information about the alleged creator of the “fictional character” of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.  In fact and reality, Mr. Holmes was a real-life person, as you will discover when you read the book SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE.