“ Man's life alone, swifter than time, speeds onward to its end without any hope of renewal, save it be in that other life which is endless and boundless. ”
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605). copy citation
| Author | Miguel de Cervantes |
|---|---|
| Source | Don Quixote |
| Topic | speed renewal |
| Date | 1605 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by John Ormsby |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/996/996-h/996-h.htm |
Context
“CHAPTER LIII. OF THE TROUBLOUS END AND TERMINATION SANCHO PANZA'S GOVERNMENT CAME TO To fancy that in this life anything belonging to it will remain for ever in the same state is an idle fancy; on the contrary, in it everything seems to go in a circle, I mean round and round. The spring succeeds the summer, the summer the fall, the fall the autumn, the autumn the winter, and the winter the spring, and so time rolls with never-ceasing wheel. Man's life alone, swifter than time, speeds onward to its end without any hope of renewal, save it be in that other life which is endless and boundless. Thus saith Cide Hamete the Mahometan philosopher; for there are many that by the light of nature alone, without the light of faith, have a comprehension of the fleeting nature and instability of this present life and the endless duration of that eternal life we hope for; but our author is here speaking of the rapidity with which Sancho's government came to an end, melted away, disappeared, vanished as it were in smoke and shadow.”
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