[While waiting for the "ghost" to attack]
That watch that you're wearing - there's a photograph inside it. I glimpsed it once. I believe it is of Irene Adler.
[irritated] You didn't "glimpse" it, you waited till I had fallen asleep and looked at it.
Yes, I did.
You seriously thought I wouldn't notice?
Irene Adler.
Formidable opponent. A remarkable adventure.
A very nice photograph.
Why are you talking like this?
Why are you so determined to be alone?
Are you quite well, Watson?
Is it such a curious question?
From a Viennese alienist, no; from a retired army surgeon, most certainly!
Holmes, against absolutely no opposition whatsoever, I am your closest friend.
I concede it.
I am currently attempting to have a perfectly normal conversation with you.
[tersely] Please don't.
Why do you need to be alone?
If you are referring to romantic entanglement, Watson – which I rather fear you are – as I have often explained before, all emotion is abhorrent to me. It is the grit in a sensitive instrument...
[almost simultaneously with him] ... "the crack in the lens", yes.
Well, there you are, you see? I've said it all before.
No, I wrote all that. You're quoting yourself from The Strand Magazine.
Well, exactly.
No, those are my words, not yours! That is the version of you that I present to the public: the brain without a heart, the calculating machine. I write all of that, Holmes, and the readers lap it up, but I do not believe it.
Well, I've a good mind to write to your editor.
You are a living, breathing man. You've lived a life; you have a past.
[offended] A what?!
Well, you must have had...
Had what?
[haltingly, awkward] ... you know...
No.
[swallows] Experiences.
[angrily] Pass me your revolver. I have a sudden need to use it.
Damn it, Holmes, you are flesh and blood. You have feelings, you have... you must have... impulses.
[through clenched teeth] Dear Lord, I have never been so impatient to be attacked by a murderous ghost...!
More from this episode
All quotes from this episode →More Sherlock quotes · These quotes come from Wikiquote's Sherlock pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.