Miguel de Cervantes
I have always heard, Sancho, that doing good to base fellows is like throwing water into the sea.
Be a terror to the butchers, that they may be fair in their weight; and keep hucksters and fraudulent dealers in awe, for the same reason.
From reading too much, and sleeping too little, his brain dried up on him and he lost his judgment.
When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome.
Tis a dainty thing to command, though twere but a flock of sheep.
One of the most considerable advantages the great have over their inferiors is to have servants as good as themselves.
Truth indeed rather alleviates than hurts, and will always bear up against falsehood, as oil does above water.
Every man is the son of his own works.
That which costs little is less valued.
'Tis ill talking of halters in the house of a man that was hanged.
I do not say a proverb is amiss when aptly and reasonably applied, but to be forever discharging them, right or wrong, hit or miss, renders conversation insipid and vulgar.
Pray look better, Sir... those things yonder are no giants, but windmills.
Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.
Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched.
A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.
Tis the only comfort of the miserable to have partners in their woes.
He preaches well that lives well.
The most difficult character in comedy is that of the fool, and he must be no simpleton that plays that part.
Laziness never arrived at the attainment of a good wish.
True valor lies between cowardice and rashness.
Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it life is insupportable.
When the severity of the law is to be softened, let pity, not bribes, be the motive.
In every case, the remedy is to take action. Get clear about exactly what it is that you need to learn and exactly what you need to do to learn it. BEING CLEAR KILLS FEAR. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.Collection: Fear
How will he who does not know how to govern himself know how to govern others?Collection: Freedom
Where one door shuts another opens.Collection: Opportunity
Three things too much, and three too little are pernicious to man; to speak much, and know little; to spend much, and have little; to presume much, and be worth little.Collection: Men
Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good.Collection: Wisdom
Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the worldCollection: Inspirational
Great people create great acts of kindness.Collection: Motivational
Be slow of tongue and quick of eye.Collection: Eye
Believe there are no limits but the sky.Collection: Believe
When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?Collection: Lying
Love not what you are but only what you may become.Collection: Love
To be good to the vile is to throw water into the sea.Collection: Sea
Liberty is one of the most precious gifts which heaven has bestowed on man; with it we cannot compare the treasures which the earth contains or the sea conceals; for liberty, as for honor, we can and ought to risk our lives; and, on for the other hand, captivity is the greatest evil that can befall man.Collection: Freedom
Woman's advice has little value, but he who won't take it is a fool.Collection: Advice
I do not insist," answered Don Quixote, "that this is a full adventure, but it is the beginning of one, for this is the way adventures begin.Collection: Adventure
The man who is prepared has his battle half fought.Collection: Men
God who sends the wound sends the medicine.Collection: Medicine
Until death it is all life.Collection: Death
Troubles take wing for the man who can sing.Collection: Men
There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it.Collection: Book
Thou camest out of thy mother's belly without government, thou hast liv'd hitherto without government, and thou mayst be carried to thy long home without government, when it shall please the Lord. How many people in this world live without government, yet do well enough, and are well look'd upon?Collection: Mother
It will be seen in the frying of the eggs.Collection: Eggs
There is no jewel in the world so valuable as a chaste and virtuous woman.Collection: Women
A tooth is much more to be prized than a diamond.Collection: Teeth
By God and upon my conscience, said the devil, I never observed it, for my mind is occupied with so many different things that I was forgetting the main thing I came about. This demon must be an honest fellow and a good Christian, said Sancho; for if he wasn't he wouldn't swear by God and his conscience; I feel sure now there must be good souls even in hell itself.Collection: Christian
Old, that's an affront no woman can well bear.Collection: Women
A father may have a child who is ugly and lacking in all the graces, and the love he feels for him puts a blindfold over his eyes so that he does not see his defects but considers them signs of charm and intelligence and recounts them to his friends as if they were clever and witty.Collection: Witty