Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. His novel Don Quixote has been translated into over 140 languages and dialects; it is, after the Bible, the most-translated book in the world.

Don Quixote, a classic of Western literature, is sometimes considered both the first modern novel[9] and the best work of fiction ever written. Cervantes' influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). He has also been dubbed El príncipe de los ingenios ("The Prince of Wits").

In 1569, in forced exile from Castile, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he worked as chamber assistant of a cardinal. Then he enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates. After five years of captivity, he was released on payment of a ransom by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order, and he returned to his family in Madrid.

In 1585, Cervantes published La Galatea, a pastoral novel. He worked as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada and later as a tax collector for the government. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts for three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville.

In 1605, Cervantes was in Valladolid when the immediate success of the first part of his Don Quixote, published in Madrid, signalled his return to the literary world. In 1607, he settled in Madrid, where he lived and worked until his death. During the last nine years of his life, Cervantes solidified his reputation as a writer, publishing Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels) in 1613, Viaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus) in 1614, and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses and the second part of Don Quixote in 1615. His last work, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1617.

Cervantes Quotes

“Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“'Tis said of love that it sometimes goes, sometimes flies; runs with one, walks gravely with another; turns a third into ice, and sets a fourth in a flame: it wounds one, another it kills: like lightning it begins and ends in the same moment: it makes that fort yield at night which it besieged but in the morning; for there is no force able to resist it....”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“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.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“Delay always breeds danger.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“A closed mouth catches no flies.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“Thou hast seen nothing yet.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“All sorrows are less with bread.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“The wounds received in battle bestow honor, they do not take it away...”
-- Miguel de Cervantes
“He who sings frightens away his ills.”
-- Miguel de Cervantes

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Don Quixote (paperback)

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