Weakness

Weakness
 

"I fear not, Mr. Holmes. The train has been broken up before now, and the carriages redistributed."
"I can assure you, Mr. Holmes," said Lestrade, "that every carriage has been carefully examined. I saw to it myself."

It was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own.
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There are ambiguous words. Which of my interpretations sounds best?

1. My friend is impatient with people less clever than himself, and this disposition puts my friend at a disadvantage.

2. My friend doesn't like people less clever, because people of this type hinder his work.

Watson was simply saying that Sherlock was impatient with people who were less intelligent than him. The part about it being a weakness means that it was something Sherlock indulged in, not that it was something that put him (Sherlock) at a disadvantage.

Thank you~