The best quotes from Don Quixote
The top 3 according to 40 votes from people: Freedom, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts that heaven has given to men · It's the church we have run into, Sancho · He who reads much and travels much sees much and knows much. (Updated Aug 21, 2025.)
The most quoted lines from Don Quixote (1605 and 1615), copied from Cervantes' text with their part and chapter (English versions are our own translation). Note: 'The dogs bark, Sancho, so we ride on' does not appear in the novel.
Automatically translated (original in Español). See the original
Top 20
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1
Freedom, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts that heaven has given to men
'…for freedom, as for honour, one can and must risk one's life.' Don Quixote to Sancho, Part Two, chapter LVIII.
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2
It's the church we have run into, Sancho
Don Quixote says it when he bumps into the church of El Toboso at night; the origin of the Spanish saying about running into the Church. Part Two, chapter IX.
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3
He who reads much and travels much sees much and knows much
Don Quixote, faced with Master Pedro's fortune-telling monkey. Part Two, chapter XXV.
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4
Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember…
'…not long ago there lived a gentleman of the lance-in-the-rack kind, with an old shield, a skinny nag and a fast greyhound.' Part One, chapter I.
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5
From too little sleep and too much reading, his brain dried up
'…so that he came to lose his mind.' This is how Alonso Quijano goes mad. Part One, chapter I.
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6
Every man is the son of his own deeds
Don Quixote's answer to the farmer who is whipping his servant Andrés. Part One, chapter IV.
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7
They are not giants, but windmills
Sancho warns his master before the book's most famous adventure: 'those you see over there are not giants…'. Part One, chapter VIII.
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8
Plainness, boy; don't get carried away, for all affectation is bad
Master Pedro corrects the boy narrating his puppet show. Part Two, chapter XXVI.
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9
Blood is inherited, but virtue is acquired
'…and virtue alone is worth what blood is not.' Advice to Sancho. Part Two, chapter XLII.
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10
When one door closes, another opens
A proverb Don Quixote quotes after the fulling-mills adventure, just before winning 'Mambrino's helmet'. Part One, chapter XXI.
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11
Naked I was born, naked I find myself: I neither lose nor gain
Sancho on leaving the governorship of Barataria as poor as he arrived. Part Two, chapter LVII.
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12
Blessed be whoever invented sleep, the cloak that covers all human thoughts
Sancho's praise of sleep, one of the novel's most beautiful passages. Part Two, chapter LXVIII.
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13
Tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you who you are
Sancho applies the proverb to himself: if he follows a madman, he's even madder. Part Two, chapter X.
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14
Patience and shuffle the cards
What Durandarte said in the Cave of Montesinos; still used in Spanish to mean 'grin and bear it'. Part Two, chapter XXIV.
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15
Dulcinea of El Toboso is the most beautiful woman in the world, and I the most unfortunate knight on earth
Defeated on the beach at Barcelona by the Knight of the White Moon, Don Quixote still won't deny his lady. Part Two, chapter LXIV.
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16
When the head aches, all the limbs ache
Don Quixote to Sancho: as his master he is his head, so the harm of one is the harm of the other. Part Two, chapter II.
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17
There's no book so bad that it doesn't have something good in it
Said by the bachelor Sansón Carrasco while discussing the first part of Don Quixote itself. Part Two, chapter III.
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18
I know who I am
Don Quixote, beaten black and blue, to the neighbour who recognises him as Señor Quijana. Part One, chapter V.
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19
He preaches well who lives well
Sancho's reply when Don Quixote says he could go round the world preaching. Part Two, chapter XX.
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20
A good payer doesn't mind giving guarantees
The Knight of the Wood (Sansón Carrasco in disguise) before fighting Don Quixote. Part Two, chapter XIV.
Candidates
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21
Know, Sancho, that no man is worth more than another unless he does more than another
Don Quixote comforts Sancho after a beating. Part One, chapter XVIII.
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22
Sorrows were not made for beasts, but for men
'…but if men feel them too much, they turn into beasts.' Sancho to Don Quixote. Part Two, chapter XI.
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23
Eat little and dine less, for the health of the whole body is forged in the workshop of the stomach
From Don Quixote's advice to Sancho before he governs the island of Barataria. Part Two, chapter XLIII.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (4)
Leí el Quijote entero el año del confinamiento y no me arrepiento, es buenísimo y muy divertido.
«Cada uno es hijo de sus obras», la frase que más me ha acompañado en la vida.
La de «yo sé quién soy» me parece de las más profundas de toda la novela.
«Con la iglesia hemos dado, Sancho» es de las más mal citadas, la gente dice «topado» y en el libro es «dado».