“One’s self-satisfaction is an untaxed kind of property which it is very unpleasant to find deprecated.”

“Don't confuse humility with self-deprecation.”

“No satisfaction based upon self-deception is solid, and however unpleasant the truth may be, it is better to face it once and for all, to get used to it, and to proceed to build your life in accordance with it.”

“It’s rather a strong check to one’s self-complacency to find how much of one’s right doing depends on not being in want of money.”

“I believe I know the only cure, which is to make one’s center of life inside of one’s self, not selfishly or excludingly, but with a kind of unassailable serenity—to decorate one’s inner house so richly that one is content there, glad to welcome anyone who wants to come and stay, but happy all the same when one is inevitably alone.”

“Every man finds his limitations, Mr. Holmes, but at least it cures us of the weakness of self-satisfaction.”