There is a remedy for everything but death; who, in spite of our teeth, will take us in his clutches.
Miguel de CervantesWhen life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical may be madness. To surrender dreams, this may be madness ...Maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be.
Miguel de CervantesBy God and upon my conscience, said the devil, I never observed it, for my mind is occupied with so many different things that I was forgetting the main thing I came about. This demon must be an honest fellow and a good Christian, said Sancho; for if he wasn't he wouldn't swear by God and his conscience; I feel sure now there must be good souls even in hell itself.
Miguel de CervantesThe brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the sum of his own works.
Miguel de CervantesI never thrust my nose into other men's porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all.
Miguel de CervantesIt is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him.
Miguel de CervantesI had rather munch a crust of brown bread and an onion in a corner, without any more ado, or ceremony, than feed upon turkey at another man's table.
Miguel de CervantesA knight errant who turns mad for a reason deserves neither merit nor thanks. The thing is to do it without cause
Miguel de CervantesBe not under the dominion of thine own will; it is the vice of the ignorant, who vainly presume on their own understanding.
Miguel de CervantesThe beauty of some women has days and seasons, depending upon accidents which diminish or increase it; nay, the very passions of the mind naturally improve or impair it, and very often utterly destroy it.
Miguel de CervantesHappy the man to whom heaven has given a morsel of bread without laying him under the obligation of thanking any other for it than heaven itself.
Miguel de CervantesFor neither good nor evil can last for ever; and so it follows that as evil has lasted a long time, good must now be close at hand.
Miguel de CervantesThe reputation of a woman may also be compared to a mirror of crystal, shining and bright, but liable to be sullied by every breath that comes near it.
Miguel de CervantesOne day, in the San Francisco walk, he came upon some badly painted figures and observed that good painters imitate nature but bad ones vomit it forth.
Miguel de CervantesThe poet may say or sing, not as things were, but as they ought to have been; but the historian must pen them, not as they ought to have been, but as they really were.
Miguel de CervantesPoesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates.
Miguel de CervantesHistorians ought to be precise, faithful, and unprejudiced; and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should make them swerve from the way of truth.
Miguel de CervantesMake it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world
Miguel de CervantesAnd thus being totally preoccupied, he rode so slowly that the sun was soon glowing with such intense heat that it would have melted his brains, if he'd had any.
Miguel de CervantesThe cleverest character in comedy is the clown, for he who would make people take him for a fool, must not be one.
Miguel de Cervantes