John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 978
| Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. (1547–1616) (continued) |
| 9494 |
| My thoughts ran a wool-gathering; and I did like the countryman who looked for his ass while he was mounted on his back. |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lvii. |
| 9495 |
| Liberty … is one of the most valuable blessings that Heaven has bestowed upon mankind. |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. |
| 9496 |
| As they use to say, spick and span new. 1 |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. |
| 9497 |
| I think it a very happy accident. 2 |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lviii. |
| 9498 |
| I shall be as secret as the grave. |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxii. |
| 9499 |
| Now, blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even. 3 |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxviii. |
| 9500 |
| Rome was not built in a day. 4 |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxi. |
| 9501 |
| The ass will carry his load, but not a double load; ride not a free horse to death. |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxi. |
| 9502 |
| Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last. 5 |
| Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxiv. |
| 9503 |
| Don’t put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted. |
| The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla). |
| 9504 |
| My heart is wax moulded as she pleases, but enduring as marble to retain. 6 |
| The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla). |
| Note 1. See Middleton, Quotation 11. [back] |
| Note 2. See Middleton, Quotation 29. [back] |
| Note 3. Blessing on him who invented sleep,—the mantle that covers all human thoughts, the food that appeases hunger, the drink that quenches thirst, the fire that warms cold, the cold that moderates heat, and, lastly, the general coin that purchases all things, the balance and weight that equals the shepherd with the king, and the simple with the wise.—Jarvis’s translation. [back] |
| Note 4. See Heywood, Quotation 68. [back] |
| Note 5. See Longfellow, Quotation 15. [back] |
| Note 6. See Byron, Quotation 176. [back] |