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Don Quixote Quotes

100+ of the best book quotes from Don Quixote
01
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
02
The most perceptive character in a play is the fool, because the man who wishes to seem simple cannot possibly be a simpleton.
03
The fault lies not with the mob, who demands nonsense, but with those who do not know how to produce anything else.
04
Perhaps to be too practical is madness.
05
Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!
06
To surrender dreams — this may be madness.
07
Take my advice and live for a long, long time. Because the maddest thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die.
08
The wounds received in battle bestow honor, they do not take it away.
09
For 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.
10
What man can pretend to know the riddle of a woman’s mind?
11
Wit and humor do not reside in slow minds.
12
The knight’s sole responsibility is to succour them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds.
13
The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.
14
Until death it is all life.
15
Truly I was born to be an example of misfortune, and a target at which the arrows of adversary are aimed.
16
When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?
17
For hope is always born at the same time as love.
18
Hunger is the best sauce in the world.
19
It’s up to brave hearts, sir, to be patient when things are going badly, as well as being happy when they’re going well.
20
It is one thing to write as poet and another to write as a historian.
21
Destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected.
22
He who’s down one day can be up the next, unless he really wants to stay in bed, that is.
23
There were no embraces, because where there is great love there is often little display of it.
24
“There is no book so bad but it has something good in it.”
25
Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good.
26
saying he preferred death in the service of God and the King to health.
Source: Chapter 2, Paragraph 17
27
“Happy he to whom Heaven has given a piece of bread for which he is not bound to give thanks to any but Heaven itself.”
Source: Chapter 2, Paragraph 47
28
“It is thumbed and read and got by heart by people of all sorts; the children turn its leaves, the young people read it, the grown men understand it, the old folk praise it.”
Source: Chapter 3, Paragraph 2
29
“It was next to an impossibility for a man to walk the streets with any delight or without danger.
Source: Chapter 3, Paragraph 9
30
To those who cannot distinguish between the one kind and the other, no doubt “Don Quixote” is a sad book;
Source: Chapter 3, Paragraph 10
31
By my faith, this comes, not of any want of ability, but of too much indolence and too little knowledge of life.
Source: Chapter 4, Paragraph 5
32
If you speak of evil thoughts, turn to the Gospel: If of the fickleness of friends, there is Cato, who will give you hiss distich.
Source: Chapter 4, Paragraph 12
33
Be not a meddler; no affair of thine the life thy neighbours lead:
Source: Chapter 5, Paragraph 7
34
Then would my heavy sorrow turn to joy; none would I envy, all would envy me, And happiness be mine without alloy.
Source: Chapter 5, Paragraph 17
35
The bright Aurora for whose love I pine. A miracle of constancy my love.
Source: Chapter 5, Paragraph 30
36
That crazy brain of yours have quite upset, but aught of base or mean hath never yet been charged by any in reproach to you.
Source: Chapter 5, Paragraph 33
37
“But what becomes of all the hay and corn?” My master gives me none; he’s much too mean.”
Source: Chapter 5, Paragraph 38
38
“the reason of the unreason with which my reason is afflicted so weakens my reason that with reason I murmur at your beauty;”
Source: Chapter 7, Paragraph 2
39
“the high heavens, that of your divinity divinely fortify you with the stars, render you deserving of the desert your greatness deserves.”
Source: Chapter 7, Paragraph 2
40
“it was not right that a horse belonging to a knight so famous, and one with such merits of his own, should be without some distinctive name”
Source: Chapter 7, Paragraph 6
41
“May God make your worship a very fortunate knight, and grant you success in battle.”
Source: Chapter 9, Paragraph 8
42
and I shall find you though you should lie closer than a lizard.
Source: Chapter 10, Paragraph 16
43
The essential point is that without seeing her you must believe, confess, affirm, swear, and defend it;
Source: Chapter 10, Paragraph 25
44
“but ye must pay for the blasphemy ye have uttered against beauty like that of my lady.”
Source: Chapter 10, Paragraph 27
45
“The merit of the father must not be put down to the account of the son.
Source: Chapter 12, Paragraph 8
46
in truth, gossip, by right of its style it is the best book in the world.
Source: Chapter 12, Paragraph 36
47
“What we see there are not giants but windmills, and what seem to be their arms are the sails that turned by the wind make the millstone go.”
Source: Chapter 14, Paragraph 4
48
“I have nothing to say; but God knows I would rather your worship complained when anything ailed you. For my part, I confess I must complain however small the ache may be; unless this rule about not complaining extends to the squires of knights-errant also.”
Source: Chapter 14, Paragraph 14
49
“If thou wert a knight, as thou art none, I should have already chastised thy folly and rashness, miserable creature.”
Source: Chapter 14, Paragraph 30
50
“so be it then, and God grant us success, and that the time for winning that island which is costing me so dear may soon come, and then let me die.”
Source: Chapter 16, Paragraph 20
51
“Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves, for look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants present themselves, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes; for this is righteous warfare, and it is God’s good service to sweep so evil a breed from off the face of the earth.”
Source: Chapter 14, Paragraph 1
52
“Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.”
Source: Chapter 14, Paragraph 6
53
“You think you love an angel; It’s a monkey you adore;”
Source: Chapter 17, Paragraph 24
54
The girl grew up with such beauty that it reminded us of her mother’s, which was very great, and yet it was thought that the daughter’s would exceed it; and so when she reached the age of fourteen to fifteen years nobody beheld her but blessed God that had made her so beautiful, and the greater number were in love with her past redemption.
Source: Chapter 18, Paragraph 18
55
“parents are not to settle children in life against their will.”
Source: Chapter 18, Paragraph 20
56
“Thus are we God’s ministers on earth and the arms by which his justice is done therein.”
Source: Chapter 19, Paragraph 11
57
Moreover, it is my belief that all knights-errant have not ladies to commend themselves to, for they are not all in love.”
Source: Chapter 19, Paragraph 14
58
I’ll say that he is wise who loveth well, And that the soul most free is that most bound In thraldom to the ancient tyrant Love.
Source: Chapter 20, Paragraph 7
59
Nay—tell me—had Heaven made me ugly, as it has made me beautiful, could I with justice complain of you for not loving me?
Source: Chapter 20, Paragraph 14
60
After all, they say right that it takes a long time to come to know people, and that there is nothing sure in this life.
Source: Chapter 21, Paragraph 16
61
And what greater miisforune can there be, than the one that waits for time to put an end to it and death to remove it?
Source: Chapter 21, Paragraph 22
62
“Fortune always leaves a door open in adversity in order to bring relief to it,”
Source: Chapter 21, Paragraph 25
63
but I, what did I have, except the heaviest whacks I think I had in all my life?
Source: Chapter 23, Paragraph 10
64
Unlucky me and the mother that bore me!
Source: Chapter 23, Paragraph 10
65
Search your memory, and if you find anything of this kind you need only tell me of it, and I promise you by the order of knighthood which I have received to procure you satisfaction and reparation to the utmost of your desire.”
Source: Chapter 23, Paragraph 29
66
“You are a stupid, scurvy innkeeper,” said Don Quixote
Source: Chapter 23, Paragraph 35
67
“I hear nothing but a great bleating of ewes and sheep,”
Source: Chapter 24, Paragraph 24
68
Sinner that I am before God!”
Source: Chapter 24, Paragraph 25
69
“Clearly this master of mine is as bold and valiant as he says he is.”
Source: Chapter 25, Paragraph 18
70
“That is the natural way of women,” said Don Quixote, “to scorn the one that loves them, and love the one that hates them: go on, Sancho.”
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 23
71
“Well then, by God, there is an end of the story, for there is no going any farther.”
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 28
72
“Sancho, it strikes me thou art in great fear.”
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 38
73
“that what happened to us may be worth laughing at, but it is not worth making a story about, for it is not everyone that is shrewd enough to hit the right point of a thing.”
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 51
74
for I have heard say ‘he loves thee well that makes thee weep;’
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 52
75
“that all thou sayest will come true; overlook the past, for thou art shrewd enough to know that our first movements are not in our own control;
Source: Chapter 26, Paragraph 53
76
“Mind what you say, your worship, and still more what you do,”
Source: Chapter 27, Paragraph 3
77
“God guide it according to my wishes and thy wants,” said Don Quixote, “and mean be he who thinks himself mean.”
Source: Chapter 27, Paragraph 40
78
“The love is not the sort your worship is thinking of,”
Source: Chapter 28, Paragraph 15
79
“And a culprit is well off when life or death with him depends on his own tongue and not on that of witnesses or evidence;”
Source: Chapter 28, Paragraph 23
80
“All that certain silly women and quacks do is to turn men mad with potions and poisons, pretending that they have power to cause love, for, as I say, it is an impossibility to compel the will.”
Source: Chapter 28, Paragraph 30
81
“never, in life or in death, thou art to say to anyone that I retired or withdrew from this danger out of fear, but only in compliance with thy entreaties;
Source: Chapter 29, Paragraph 3
82
“Blessed be all Heaven for sending us an adventure that is good for something!”
Source: Chapter 29, Paragraph 11
83
“Oh faithless Fernando, here, here shalt thou pay the penalty of the wrong thou hast done me; these hands shall tear out that heart of thine.
Source: Chapter 29, Paragraph 47
84
for it is still some comfort in misfortune to find one who can feel for it.
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 3
85
“I declare her to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman in the world;”
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 14
86
“What a set of absurdities thou art stringing together!
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 9
87
“though it may be in the dice that we may throw deuce-ace instead of sixes; but all will depend on thy diligence.”
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 13
88
“For the love of God,” said Sancho, “be careful, your worship, how you give yourself those knocks on the head, for you may come across such a rock, and in such a way, that the very first may put an end to the whole contrivance of this penance; and I should think, if indeed knocks on the head seem necessary to you, and this business cannot be done without them, you might be content—
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 28
89
“I thank thee for thy good intentions, friend Sancho,”
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 29
90
“to be of service to you, so much so that I had resolved not to quit these mountains until I had found you, and learned of you whether there is any kind of relief to be found for that sorrow under which from the strangeness of your life you seem to labour;
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 3
91
And if my good intentions deserve to be acknowledged with any kind of courtesy, I entreat you
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 3
92
“If you have anything to give me to eat, for God’s sake give it me, and after I have eaten I will do all you ask in acknowledgment of the goodwill you have displayed towards me.”
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 5
93
“Ah heavens! how many letters did I write her, and how many dainty modest replies did I receive!”
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 11
94
“I declare her to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman in the world;”
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 14
95
“I cannot get rid of the idea, nor will anyone in the world remove it, or make me think otherwise—”
Source: Chapter 30, Paragraph 15
96
“What a set of absurdities thou art stringing together!
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 9
97
Now one of the instances in which this knight most conspicuously showed his prudence, worth, valour, endurance, fortitude, and love,
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 15
98
“by him thou didst swear by just now I swear thou hast the most limited understanding that any squire in the world has or ever had.
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 21
99
Keep it safe, my friend, for just now I have no need of it;
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 21
100
“and let me tell you she can fling a crowbar as well as the lustiest lad in all the town.
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 44
101
“that thou art a mighty great chatterer, and that with a blunt wit thou art always striving at sharpness;
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 45
102
“Let not that anxiety trouble thee,”
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 63
103
“Observe the landmarks well,”
Source: Chapter 31, Paragraph 65
104
Adventure-seeking doth he go Up rugged heights, down rocky valleys, But hill or dale, or high or low, Mishap attendeth all his sallies: Love still pursues him to and fro, And plies his cruel scourge
Source: Chapter 32, Paragraph 6
105
I have a father who knows you and loves me dearly, who without putting any constraint on my inclination will grant what will be reasonable for you to have, if it be that you value me as you say and as I believe you do.”
Source: Chapter 33, Paragraph 15
106
Now the night of my sorrow set in, the sun of my happiness went down, I felt my eyes bereft of sight, my mind of reason.
Source: Chapter 33, Paragraph 23
107
let it be mine to be a prey to misery when I might have enjoyed happiness.
Source: Chapter 33, Paragraph 29
108
“for with friends we must not look too closely into trifles;
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 16
109
“for I know your worship has just such a mole on the middle of your backbone, which is the mark of a strong man.”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 15
110
“Now I forgive thee,”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 35
111
“God is in heaven, and sees all tricks, and will judge who does most harm, I in not speaking right, or your worship in not doing it.”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 38
112
“Let your worship ask what you will,” answered Sancho, “for I shall find a way out of all as I found a way in; but I implore you, señor, not to be so revengeful in future.”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 41
113
“It is with that kind of love,” said Sancho, “I have heard preachers say we ought to love our Lord, for himself alone, without being moved by the hope of glory or the fear of punishment; though for my part, I would rather love and serve him for what he could do.”
Source: Chapter 37, Paragraph 30
114
“In faith, then, I cannot even read.”
Source: Chapter 37, Paragraph 32
115
“By my faith you are not going to make a beard of my tail any longer; you must give me back my tail, for it is a shame the way that thing of my husband’ s goes tossing about on the floor; I mean the comb that I used to stick in my good tail.”
Source: Chapter 38, Paragraph 3
116
for I would rather have a child of mine burnt than either of the others.
Source: Chapter 38, Paragraph 23
117
those two books are made up of lies, and are full of folly and nonsense;
Source: Chapter 38, Paragraph 24
118
thus I shall not be wronged in anything more than intention, and my wrong will remain buried in the integrity of thy silence, which I know well will be as lasting as that of death in what concerns me.”
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 7
119
“True friends will prove their friends and make use of them, usque ad aras;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 8
120
“And if a friend should go so far as to put aside his duty to Heaven to fulfil his duty to his friend, it should not be in matters that are trifling or of little moment, but in such as affect the friend’s life and honour.
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 8
121
Such are the things that men are wont to attempt, and there is honour, glory, gain, in attempting them, however full of difficulty and peril they may be;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 11
122
The virtuous and chaste woman is an ermine, and whiter and purer than snow is the virtue of modesty;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 14
123
Woman is a thing of glass;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 15
124
And if thou wilt not have me for what I am, thy true and lawful wife, at least take and accept me as thy slave, for so long as I am thine I will count myself happy and fortunate.
Source: Chapter 42, Paragraph 18
125
“for I have had the most prodigious and stupendous battle with the giant that I ever remember having had all the days of my life;
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 3
126
“I would gladly travel so far for the sake of doing so good a work.”
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 14
127
“Forgive me, and that will do.”
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 21
128
“Thanks be to God for all the mercies he has shown him,” said the captive; “for to my mind there is no happiness on earth to compare with recovering lost liberty.”
Source: Chapter 45, Paragraph 14
129
“Forgive me, child, for waking thee, but I do so that thou mayest have the pleasure of hearing the best voice thou hast ever heard, perhaps, in all thy life.”
Source: Chapter 49, Paragraph 7
130
“It cannot be that everything in this castle goes by enchantment.”
Source: Chapter 50, Paragraph 36
131
It only concerns them to aid them as persons in need of help, having regard to their sufferings and not to their rascalities.
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 2
132
“That I will do with all my heart,” replied Dorothea, “if it will not be wearisome to you to hear of miseries and misfortunes.”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 6
133
“Now I forgive thee,”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 35
134
“God is in heaven, and sees all tricks, and will judge who does most harm, I in not speaking right, or your worship in not doing it.”
Source: Chapter 36, Paragraph 38
135
“Ah! what a sad state your worship’s brains are in!”
Source: Chapter 37, Paragraph 24
136
“Peace, for the love of God!”
Source: Chapter 37, Paragraph 24
137
“True friends will prove their friends and make use of them, usque ad aras;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 8
138
“Difficulties are attempted either for the sake of God or for the sake of the world, or for both;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 11
139
Such are the things that men are wont to attempt, and there is honour, glory, gain, in attempting them, however full of difficulty and peril they may be;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 11
140
The virtuous and chaste woman is an ermine, and whiter and purer than snow is the virtue of modesty;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 14
141
“For this shall a man leave his father and his mother, and they shall be two in one flesh;
Source: Chapter 39, Paragraph 20
142
“As poets they do not tell the truth,”
Source: Chapter 40, Paragraph 12
143
“I would gladly travel so far for the sake of doing so good a work.”
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 14
144
“Fair maiden, thou dost shine like a star in the firmament of beauty, and thy lovely face doth illuminate the darkness of this desolate plain.”
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 15
145
The first good news the world and mankind received was that which the angels announced on the night that was our day, when they sang in the air, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good-will;’
Source: Chapter 43, Paragraph 36
146
Or if this does not happen, and merciful Heaven watches over him and keeps him safe and sound,
Source: Chapter 44, Paragraph 1
147
“Thanks be to God for all the mercies he has shown him,”
Source: Chapter 45, Paragraph 14
148
“for to my mind there is no happiness on earth to compare with recovering lost liberty.”
Source: Chapter 45, Paragraph 14
149
“Forgive me, child, for waking thee, but I do so that thou mayest have the pleasure of hearing the best voice thou hast ever heard, perhaps, in all thy life.”
Source: Chapter 49, Paragraph 7
150
Love resolute Knows not the word “impossibility;”
Source: Chapter 49, Paragraph 18
151
She knows nothing more of my passion than what she may have learned from having sometimes seen from a distance that my eyes were filled with tears.
Source: Chapter 50, Paragraph 27
152
“I will let him know he lies if he is a knight, and if he is a squire that he lies again a thousand times.”
Source: Chapter 51, Paragraph 2
153
“Look, friend, what a fine sight! What a noble knight! See how he’s got his lance in hand, and his helmet on his head, and his shield with the three feathers of the Order of the Golden Fleece!”
Source: Chapter 51, Paragraph 3
154
“May I never share heaven,” said the poor barber,
Source: Chapter 51, Paragraph 13
155
By the Lord, it is quite true what my master says about the enchantments of this castle, for it is impossible to live an hour in peace in it!”
Source: Chapter 51, Paragraph 25
156
“If your worship is angry,” replied Sancho,“I will hold my tongue and leave unsaid what as a good squire I am bound to say, and what a good servant should tell his master.”
Source: Chapter 52, Paragraph 9
157
Now tell me, so may God deliver you from this affliction, and so may you find yourself when you least expect it in the arms of my lady Dulcinea—”
Source: Chapter 54, Paragraph 13
158
“Well, I rely on the goodness and truth of my master,” said Sancho;
Source: Chapter 54, Paragraph 17
159
“This is what in my heart and soul I was longing to know.
Source: Chapter 55, Paragraph 1

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