Saturday, July 10, 2010

of great and small

"The chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness."
-- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle



















Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a Scottish writer born in 1859. He was trained as a physician but turned to writing when his practice did not prove to be successful. Although Sir Arthur (or do I call him Sir Doyle?) is most well-known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, arguably the best detective of all time albeit in fiction, he did also write a number of other works such as historical novels, science fiction, plays and non-fiction. In fact it was because he wanted more attention on his other works that he famously 'killed off' Holmes at Reichenbach Falls (although Holmes was resurrected shortly after an uproar from the fans, no worries).

I came across this quote by Sir Doyle during a period when I was absolutely mad about Holmes (I still am a huge fan, although the obsession level has thankfully dropped a little). It is interesting I guess, because Holmes himself shows little to no sign of humility. But for the rest of us mortal beings with ordinary powers of perception, perhaps we can do with a little less flair and a little more modesty, and perceive ourselves as the small particles that we are in this great wide universe.