Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Quote of the Day, 8/9/06

This story has come up in a variety of contexts in the last two days, so I took today's quote from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's Don Quixote, written in the early 17th century.

In the following passage, Sancho Panza has just asked his friend how he could be a knight on a quest without having a reason that drove him to it. Other knights, says Sancho, have clear motivation...


'That's exactly it,' replied Don Quixote, 'that's just how beautifully I've worked it all out -- because for a knight errant to go crazy for good reason, how much is that worth? My idea is to become a lunatic for no good reason at all, and to ask my lady, seeing what I do without cause, what she imagines I might do if I really had one?'

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