Michael Dirda on Arthur Conan Doyle

My brother pointed me to this article on Victorian author Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. I loved this quotation:

Appropriately, Conan Doyle once named “unaffectedness” as his own favorite virtue, then listed “manliness” as his favorite virtue in another man; “work” as his favorite occupation; “time well filled” as his ideal of happiness; “men who do their duty” as his favorite heroes in real life; and “affectation and conceit” as his pet aversions.

A lot of people might find that to be a description of a boring man; I think it’s awesome.