Miguel de Cervantes Quotes

saying he preferred death in the service of God and the King to health.

“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.”

“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.”

“It was next to an impossibility for a man to walk the streets with any delight or without danger.

To those who cannot distinguish between the one kind and the other, no doubt “Don Quixote” is a sad book;

By my faith, this comes, not of any want of ability, but of too much indolence and too little knowledge of life.

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.

Be not a meddler; no affair of thine the life thy neighbours lead:

Then would my heavy sorrow turn to joy; none would I envy, all would envy me, And happiness be mine without alloy.

The bright Aurora for whose love I pine. A miracle of constancy my love.

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.

“But what becomes of all the hay and corn?” My master gives me none; he’s much too mean.”

“the reason of the unreason with which my reason is afflicted so weakens my reason that with reason I murmur at your beauty;”

“the high heavens, that of your divinity divinely fortify you with the stars, render you deserving of the desert your greatness deserves.”

“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”

“I looked for no less, my lord, from your High Magnificence,”

“May God make your worship a very fortunate knight, and grant you success in battle.”

and I shall find you though you should lie closer than a lizard.

The essential point is that without seeing her you must believe, confess, affirm, swear, and defend it;

“but ye must pay for the blasphemy ye have uttered against beauty like that of my lady.”

“The merit of the father must not be put down to the account of the son.

in truth, gossip, by right of its style it is the best book in the world.

“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.”

“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.”

“If thou wert a knight, as thou art none, I should have already chastised thy folly and rashness, miserable creature.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“You think you love an angel; It’s a monkey you adore;”

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.

“parents are not to settle children in life against their will.”

“Thus are we God’s ministers on earth and the arms by which his justice is done therein.”

Moreover, it is my belief that all knights-errant have not ladies to commend themselves to, for they are not all in love.”

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.

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?

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.

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?

“Fortune always leaves a door open in adversity in order to bring relief to it,”

but I, what did I have, except the heaviest whacks I think I had in all my life?

Unlucky me and the mother that bore me!

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.”

“You are a stupid, scurvy innkeeper,” said Don Quixote

“I hear nothing but a great bleating of ewes and sheep,”

Sinner that I am before God!”

“Clearly this master of mine is as bold and valiant as he says he is.”

“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.”

“Well then, by God, there is an end of the story, for there is no going any farther.”

“Sancho, it strikes me thou art in great fear.”

“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.”

for I have heard say ‘he loves thee well that makes thee weep;’

“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;

“Mind what you say, your worship, and still more what you do,”

“God guide it according to my wishes and thy wants,” said Don Quixote, “and mean be he who thinks himself mean.”

“The love is not the sort your worship is thinking of,”

“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;”

“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.”

“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;

“Blessed be all Heaven for sending us an adventure that is good for something!”

“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.

for it is still some comfort in misfortune to find one who can feel for it.

“I declare her to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman in the world;”

“What a set of absurdities thou art stringing together!

“though it may be in the dice that we may throw deuce-ace instead of sixes; but all will depend on thy diligence.”

“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—

“I thank thee for thy good intentions, friend Sancho,”

“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;

And if my good intentions deserve to be acknowledged with any kind of courtesy, I entreat you

“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.”

“Ah heavens! how many letters did I write her, and how many dainty modest replies did I receive!”

“I declare her to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent woman in the world;”

“I cannot get rid of the idea, nor will anyone in the world remove it, or make me think otherwise—”

“What a set of absurdities thou art stringing together!

Now one of the instances in which this knight most conspicuously showed his prudence, worth, valour, endurance, fortitude, and love,

“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.

Keep it safe, my friend, for just now I have no need of it;

“and let me tell you she can fling a crowbar as well as the lustiest lad in all the town.

“that thou art a mighty great chatterer, and that with a blunt wit thou art always striving at sharpness;

“Let not that anxiety trouble thee,”

“Observe the landmarks well,”

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

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.”

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.

let it be mine to be a prey to misery when I might have enjoyed happiness.

“for with friends we must not look too closely into trifles;

“for I know your worship has just such a mole on the middle of your backbone, which is the mark of a strong man.”

“Now I forgive thee,”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“In faith, then, I cannot even read.”

“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.”

for I would rather have a child of mine burnt than either of the others.

those two books are made up of lies, and are full of folly and nonsense;

“Try that bone on another dog,”

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.”

“True friends will prove their friends and make use of them, usque ad aras;

“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.

“Difficulties are attempted either for the sake of God or for the sake of the world, or for both;

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;

The virtuous and chaste woman is an ermine, and whiter and purer than snow is the virtue of modesty;

Woman is a thing of glass;

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.

“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;

“I would gladly travel so far for the sake of doing so good a work.”

“Forgive me, and that will do.”

“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.”

“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.”

“It cannot be that everything in this castle goes by enchantment.”