Quotable Friday (47)

This week marks 400 years since the death of Shakespeare. The world appears to have gone Shakespeare-crazy for it. This is wonderful for me as I am in the midst of writing a novel about somebody who is crazy about Shakespeare! However, it is also 400 years since the death of perhaps the most famous Spanish writer - Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote*.

Miguel brought us such phrases such as "honesty's the best policy", and "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". He also has dozens of little snippets which are great advice for life - many of which are funny too. I like his, "there's no taking trout with dry britches". There was a lot of wit and wisdom in his work - it's a shame he's not better known in the UK.

For all my friends out there who love a good book, let this quotation from Miguel de Cervantes, be a warning to you...

"Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind."

*Incidentally, can anybody tell me definitively how to pronounce Don Quixote? I have heard it said both as Don Quicks-oat and as Don Key-oat-ee.