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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  9499 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 1547-1616 John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

9499 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 1547-1616 John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:9499
AUTHOR:Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616)
QUOTATION: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. 1
ATTRIBUTION:Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxviii.
 
Note 1.
Blessing on him who invented sleep,—the mantle that covers all human thoughts, the food that appeases hunger, the drink that quenches thirst, the fire that warms cold, the cold that moderates heat, and, lastly, the general coin that purchases all things, the balance and weight that equals the shepherd with the king, and the simple with the wise.—Jarvis’s translation. [back]