I. Frost's Selected Quotations

Everything at Amazon by and about: Miguel de Cervantes

The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Can we ever have too much of a good thing?
Miguel de Cervantes.

It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Fortune leaves always some door open to come at a remedy.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Fair and softly goes far.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Let me leap out of the frying-pan into the fire; or, out of God's blessing into the warm sun.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things under ground, and much more in the skies.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Rome was not built in a day.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Remember the old saying, "Faint heart never won fair lady."
Miguel de Cervantes.

Diligence is the mother of good fortune.
Miguel de Cervantes.

When a man says, "Get out of my house! what would you have with my wife?" there is no answer to be made.
Miguel de Cervantes.

When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Many count their chickens before they are hatched; and where they expect bacon, meet with broken bones.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Liberty... is one of the most valuable blessings that Heaven has bestowed upon mankind.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last.
Miguel de Cervantes.

There is a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us out flat some time or other.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Are we to mark this day with a white or a black stone?
Miguel de Cervantes.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.
Miguel de Cervantes.

There were but two families in the world, Have-much and Have-little.
Miguel de Cervantes.

In the night all cats are gray.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.
Miguel de Cervantes.

A little in one's own pocket is better than much in another man's purse.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Delay always breeds danger.
Miguel de Cervantes.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Miguel de Cervantes.

"There is no book so bad," said the bachelor, "but something good may be found in it."
Miguel de Cervantes.

Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Spare your breath to cool your porridge.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Little said is soonest mended.
Miguel de Cervantes.

A close mouth catches no flies.
Miguel de Cervantes.

Ill-luck, you know, seldom comes alone.
Miguel de Cervantes.

It is the part of a wise man to keep himself to-day for to-morrow, and not to venture all his eggs in one basket.
Miguel de Cervantes.

The ease of my burdens, the staff of my life.
Miguel de Cervantes.

I am almost frighted out of my seven senses.
Miguel de Cervantes.

The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.
Chap. iv. Miguel de Cervantes.

Can we ever have too much of a good thing?
Chap. vi. Miguel de Cervantes.

It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck of salt with his friend before he knows him.
Book. iii. Chap. i. Miguel de Cervantes.

Fortune leaves always some door open to come at a remedy.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Fair and softly goes far.
Chap. ii. Miguel de Cervantes.

Let me leap out of the frying-pan into the fire; or, out of God's blessing into the warm sun.
bid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Fear is sharp-sighted, and can see things under ground, and much more in the skies.
Chap. vi. Miguel de Cervantes.

Ill-luck, you know, seldom comes alone.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

It is the part of a wise man to keep himself to-day for to-morrow, and not to venture all his eggs in one basket.
Chap. ix. Miguel de Cervantes.

The ease of my burdens, the staff of my life.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

I am almost frighted out of my seven senses.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

I never thrust my nose into other men's porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Little said is soonest mended.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

A close mouth catches no flies.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Delay always breeds danger.
Book iv. Chap. ii. Miguel de Cervantes.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

"There is no book so bad," said the bachelor, "but something good may be found in it."
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.
Chap. iv. Miguel de Cervantes.

Spare your breath to cool your porridge.
Chap. v. Miguel de Cervantes.

A little in one's own pocket is better than much in another man's purse.
Chap. vii. Miguel de Cervantes.

Remember the old saying, "Faint heart never won fair lady."
Chap. x. Miguel de Cervantes.

There is a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us out flat some time or other.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Are we to mark this day with a white or a black stone?
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.
Chap. xvi. Miguel de Cervantes.

There were but two families in the world, Have-much and Have-little.
Chap. xx. Miguel de Cervantes.


In the night all cats are gray.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.
Chap. xlii. Miguel de Cervantes.

Diligence is the mother of good fortune.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.

When a man says, "Get out of my house! what would you have with my wife?" there is no answer to be made.
Iid. Miguel de Cervantes.

When thou art at Rome, do as they do at Rome.
Chap. liv. Miguel de Cervantes.

Many count their chickens before they are hatched; and where they expect bacon, meet with broken bones.
Chap. lv. Miguel de Cervantes.

Liberty... is one of the most valuable blessings that Heaven has bestowed upon mankind.
Chap. lviii. Miguel de Cervantes.

Now, blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even.
Chap. lxviii. Miguel de Cervantes.

Rome was not built in a day.
Chap. lxxi. Miguel de Cervantes.

Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last.
Chap. lxxiv. Miguel de Cervantes.

Don't put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted.
The Little Gypsy (La Gitanilla).

My heart is wax moulded as she pleases, but enduring as marble to retain.
Ibid. Miguel de Cervantes.