He smiled gently. “It is of the first importance,” he cried, “not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”[The Sign of Four]
왓슨이 사건을 의뢰하러 온 메리 모스턴(Mary Morstan)의 – 훗날 왓슨의 아내가 되는 – 매력에 빠져 셜록에게 이에 관해 이야기하자 홈즈가 보인 반응이다. 하지만 홈즈 역시 ‘사자의 갈기‘ 에피소드에서 희생자의 약혼녀였던 모드 벨라미(Maud Bellamy)의 매력에 반해 평정심을 잃는다.