Miguel de Cervantes Quotes

It is not the responsibility of knights errant to discover whether the afflicted, the enchained and the oppressed whom they encounter on the road are reduced to these circumstances and suffer this distress for their vices, or for their virtues: the knight's sole responsibility is to succour them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds.

Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good.

There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it.

Among the attributes of God, although they are equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.

There is also this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it.

Here lies a gentleman bold Who was so very brave He went to lengths untold, And on the brink of the grave Death had on him no hold. By the world he set small store-- He frightened it to the core-- Yet somehow, by Fate's plan, Though he'd lived a crazy man, When he died he was sane once more.

You must not think, sir, to catch old birds with chaff.

Love is influenced by no consideration, recognizes no restraints of reason, and is of the same nature as death, that assails alike the lofty palaces of kings and the humble cabins of shepherds; and when it takes entire possession of a heart, the first thing it does is to banish fear and shame from it.

There is a strange charm in the thoughts of a good legacy, or the hopes of an estate, which wondrously removes or at least alleviates the sorrow that men would otherwise feel for the death of friends.

Great persons are able to do great kindnesses.

Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water.

Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last.

It requires a long time to know anyone.

A tooth is much more to be prized than a diamond.

It is better that a judge should lean on the side of compassion than severity.

The ass bears the load, but not the overload.

As ill-luck would have it.

Fair and softly goes far.

Anyone who does not know how to make the most of his luck has no right to complain if it passes by him.

There's no love lost between us.

When we are asleep, we are all equal.

Let us forget and forgive injuries.

Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.

Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.

The phoenix hope, can wing her way through the desert skies, and still defying fortune's spite; revive from ashes and rise.

That which we are capable of feeling, we are capable of saying.

Facts are the enemy of truth.

there are many hours and minutes between now and tomorrowand in any one of them-even in a minute,the house falls

Every man is the son of his own works.

The worst reconciliation is better than the best divorce.

Everyone is as God has made him, and oftentimes a great deal worse.

Give the devil his due.

I am almost frightened out of my seven senses.

Be brief, for no talk can please when too long. Being prepared is half the victory.

Pray, look better, sir... those things yonder are no giants, but windmills.

In every case, the remedy is to take action. Get clear about exactly what it is that you need to learn and exactly what you need to do to learn it. BEING CLEAR KILLS FEAR. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.

All of that is true,’ responded Don Quixote, ‘but we cannot all be friars, and God brings His children to heaven by many paths: chivalry is a religion, and there are sainted knights in Glory.’ Yes,’ responded Sancho, ‘but I’ve heard that there are more friars in heaven than knights errant.’ That is true,’ responded Don Quixote, ‘because the number of religious is greater than the number of knights.’ There are many who are errant,’ said Sancho. Many,’ responded Don Quixote, ‘but few who deserve to be called knights.

Beware, gentle knight - the greatest monster of them all is reason.

Jests that give pains are no jests.

We are all as God made us and frequently much worse.

A person dishonored is worst than dead.

Don Quixote followed nature, and being satisfied with his first sleep, did not solicit more. As for Sancho, he never wanted a second, for the first lasted him from night to morning, indicating a sound body and a mind free from care; but his master, being unable to sleep himself awakened him, saying, "I am amazed, Sancho, at the torpor of thy soul; it seems as if thou wert made of marble or brass, insensible of emotion or sentiment!

The man who is prepared has his battle half fought.

Nothing costs less nor is cheaper than compliments of civility.

There is no greater folly in the world than for a man to despair.

Liberty is one of the most precious gifts which heaven has bestowed on man; with it we cannot compare the treasures which the earth contains or the sea conceals; for liberty, as for honor, we can and ought to risk our lives; and, on for the other hand, captivity is the greatest evil that can befall man.

Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.

Love and war are the same thing, and stratagems and policy are as allowable in the one as in the other.