Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Miguel de Cervantes Novelist

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: Spain
  • Born: Sep 29, 1547
  • Died: Apr 22, 1616

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, often known mononymously as Cervantes, was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright.

His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes. He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios.

In 1569, Cervantes moved to Rome where he worked as chamber assistant of a cardinal. Cervantes then enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. After 5 years of captivity he was released by his captors on ransom from his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order and he subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.

In 1585, Cervantes published a pastoral novel named La Galatea. He worked as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada, and later as a tax collector. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts of three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville.

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

God bears with the wicked, but not forever. God

Delay always breeds danger and to protract a great design is often to ruin it. design

A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. experience

Well, there's a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us flat one time or other. death

Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience. experience

There is nothing so subject to the inconstancy of fortune as war. war

Fear has many eyes and can see things underground. fear

Tell me thy company, and I'll tell thee what thou art. art

When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome. art

He who loses wealth loses much he who loses a friend loses more but he that loses his courage loses all. courage

Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes. best

The knowledge of yourself will preserve you from vanity. knowledge

No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly. parenting

Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. power

Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune. music

To withdraw is not to run away, and to stay is no wise action, when there's more reason to fear than to hope. fear & hope

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

Truth may be stretched, but cannot be broken, and always gets above falsehood, as does oil above water. truth

That's the nature of women, not to love when we love them, and to love when we love them not. nature & women

Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. truth