The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, or just Don Quixote, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. A founding work of Western literature, it is often labeled “the first modern novel” and many authors consider it to be the best literary work ever written. Profoundly inspirational Don Quixote quotes will challenge the way you think, change the way you live and transform your whole life.
If you’re searching for inspirational quotes from books that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of profound Great Expectations quotes, amazing A Tale of Two Cities quotes and top Christmas Carol quotes.
Famous Don Quixote Quotes
There is a time for some things, and a time for all things; a time for great things, and a time for small things. — Don Quixote
Did I murder the old woman? I murdered myself, not her! I crushed myself once for all, forever. … But it was the devil that killed that old woman, not I. — Don Quixote
That is the nature of women, not to love when we love them, and to love when we love them not. — Don Quixote
Kill her, take her money and with the help of it devote oneself to the service of humanity and the good of all. What do you think, would not one tiny crime be wiped out by thousands of good deeds? … One death, and a hundred lives in exchange—it’s simple arithmetic! — Don Quixote
Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things under ground, and much more in the skies. — Don Quixote
Those who play with cats must expect to be scratched. — Don Quixote
Many go out for wool, and come home shorn themselves. — Don Quixote
Let me leap out of the frying-pan into the fire; or, out of Gods blessing into the warm sun. — Don Quixote
The eyes those silent tongues of love. — Don Quixote
In short, I maintain that all great men or even men a little out of the common, that is to say capable of giving some new word, must from their very nature be criminals—more or less, of course. — Don Quixote
Truly I was born to be an example of misfortune, and a target at which the arrows of adversary are aimed. — Don Quixote
Love and war are the same thing, and stratagems and policy are as allowable in the one as in the other. — Don Quixote
You are a king by your own fireside, as much as any monarch on his throne. — Don Quixote
Twill grieve me so to the heart that I shall cry my eyes out. — Don Quixote
Didnt I tell you, Don Quixote, sir, to turn back, for they were not armies you were going to attack, but flocks of sheep? — Don Quixote
Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind. — Don Quixote
I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion. — Don Quixote
The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works. — Don Quixote
Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond. — Don Quixote
I never thrust my nose into other mens porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all. — Don Quixote
Great persons are able to do great kindnesses. — Don Quixote
Drink moderately; for drunkenness neither keeps a secret nor observes a promise. — Don Quixote
A tooth is much more to be prized than a diamond. — Don Quixote
And He will judge and will forgive all. … And when He has done with all of them, then He will summon us. You too come forth,’ He will say, Come forth ye drunkards, come forth, ye weak ones, come forth, ye children of shame! … This is why I receive them … that not one of them believed himself to be worthy of this.’ — Don Quixote
A bad year and a bad month to all the backbiting bitches in the world! — Don Quixote
Many count their chickens before they are hatched; and where they expect bacon, meet with broken bones. — Don Quixote
Diligence is the mother of good fortune. — Don Quixote
When the head aches, all the members partake of the pain. — Don Quixote
There is no sauce in the world like hunger. — Don Quixote
Honesty is the best policy. — Don Quixote
There were but two families in the world — Have-Much and Have-Little. — Don Quixote
Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world. — Don Quixote
I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity,’ he said wildly and walked away to the window. Listen,’ he added, turning to her a minute later. I said just now to an insolent man that he was not worth your little finger.” — Don Quixote
It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him. — Don Quixote
If he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be! … How true it is! Good God, how true! Man is a vile creature! … And vile is he who calls him vile for that. — Don Quixote
The devil, who seldom lies dead in a ditch, but will have a finger in every pie. — Don Quixote
The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water. — Don Quixote
Suffering, too, is a good thing. Suffer! … Fling yourself straight into life, without deliberation; don’t be afraid—the flood will bear you to the bank and set you safe on your feet again. … You must fulfil the demands of justice. — Don Quixote
There is a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us out flat some time or other. — Don Quixote
Virtue is more zealously persecurod by ill men than it is beloved by the good. — Don Quixote
An honest man’s word is as good as his bond. — Don Quixote
The ass will carry his load, but not a double load; ride not a free horse to death. — Don Quixote
He has an oar in every mans boat, and a finger in every pie. — Don Quixote
My memory is so bad that many times I forget my own name. — Don Quixote
A little in one’s own pocket is better than much in another man’s purse. It is good to keep a nest egg. Every little makes a mickle. — Don Quixote
I’ve so much to do of my own business and other people’s. Ah, Rodion Romanovitch,’ he added suddenly, what all men need is fresh air, fresh air … more than anything! — Don Quixote
Human nature is not taken into account, it is excluded, it’s not supposed to exist! … They believe that a social system that has come out of some mathematical brain is going to organise all humanity at once and make it just and sinless in an instant, quicker than any living process! … The living soul demands life; the soul won’t obey the rules of mechanics. — Don Quixote
No limits but the sky. — Don Quixote
It’s not a matter of permission or prohibition. He will suffer if he is sorry for his victim. Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth. — Don Quixote
Make hay while the sun shines. — Don Quixote
Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse. — Don Quixote
There is not the least thing can be said or done but people will talk and find fault. — Don Quixote
Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last. — Don Quixote
The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation. — Don Quixote
I shall never be fool enough to turn knight-errant. For I see quite well that its not the fashion now to do as they did in the olden days when they say those famous knights roamed the world. — Don Quixote
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. — Don Quixote
