# Quevedo's most famous lines and verses

The best of Francisco de Quevedo's wit (1580-1645): verses Spaniards know by heart and maxims that still sound modern. Texts from Wikiquote and Wikisource.

- 5 votes · 12 items
- Jun 19, 2019 · Lucía Arroyo Hidalgo
- https://even.best/en/l/1790/quevedo-s-most-famous-lines-and-verses

## Top 12

1. **A mighty knight is Sir Money.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Refrain of the satirical poem «Mother, I bow to gold».
2. **There once was a man stuck to a nose.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — First line of the sonnet «To a Nose», the most famous mockery of Spain's Golden Age.
3. **Where there is little justice, being right is dangerous.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — One of his most quoted maxims.
4. **The rich man dines; the poor man feeds himself.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
5. **Dust they will be, but dust in love.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Last line of the sonnet «Love Constant Beyond Death».
6. **Insult is the reason of those who have no reason.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
7. **When we say that times past were better, we condemn the future without knowing it.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
8. **A man can be forgiven for being foolish for an hour, when there are fools who never stop being so for an hour in their whole life.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
9. **He who seems wise among fools seems a fool among the wise.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
10. **There are short books that need a very long life to be understood as they deserve.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — One of Quevedo's maxims.
11. **A friend should be like blood, rushing to the wound without waiting to be called.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Quevedo on friendship.
12. **Between the white carnation and the red rose, Your Majesty, choose (escoja = «choose», es coja = «is lame»).** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The famous anecdote in which Quevedo called the queen lame to her face without her being able to reproach him.

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.