Don Quixote

by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

I want you to know, Sancho, if you don’t know it already, that there are two things that stimulate love more than anything else: great beauty and a good reputation, and these two things are conspicuously exemplified in Dulcinea, because in beauty, no one can rival her, and in good reputation few can. To sum up, I make myself believe that everything I say about her is the absolute truth, neither more nor less, and I portray her in my imagination as I like her, so that in beauty and rank, Helen305 cannot match her, nor can Lucretia306 come near, nor any other of the famous women of ages past: Greek, barbarian, or Roman. Let anyone say what he wants—even if uninformed people criticize me, I’ll not be condemned by those who are discerning.”