Don Quixote Quotes

Don Quixote was published by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in two parts. The first part was published in 1605 and the second part was published ten years later. The satirical novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quixano (Don Quixote), who goes on a journey as a knight-errant to return chivalry to his country after reading numerous tales about knights. Here is a collection of quotes from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.

"Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Let me leap out of the frying-pan into the fire; or, out of God's blessing into the warm sun." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"There is a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us out flat some time or other." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"He has an oar in every man's boat, and a finger in every pie." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

Cover of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Penguin Classics)

"I 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." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"I shall never be fool enough to turn knight-errant. For I see quite well that it’s not the fashion now to do as they did in the olden days when they say those famous knights roamed the world." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Truly I was born to be an example of misfortune, and a target at which the arrows of adversary are aimed." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"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 - Miguel de Cervantes

"Didn't 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 - Miguel de Cervantes

"My memory is so bad that many times I forget my own name." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"A bad year and a bad month to all the backbiting bitches in the world!" - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"A tooth is much more to be prized than a diamond." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"'Twill grieve me so to the heart that I shall cry my eyes out." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Make hay while the sun shines." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

"Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last." - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes