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The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard by Anatole France
page 111 of 258 (43%)

For thirty years I have been in the habit of carrying this cane
upon all memorable or solemn visits which I make; and those two
figures of knight and squire give me inspiration and counsel. I
imagine I can hear them speak. Don Quixote says,

"Think well about great things; and know that thought is the only
reality in this world. Lift up Nature to thine own stature; and
let the whole universe be for thee no more than the reflection of
thine own heroic soul. Combat for honour's sake: that alone is
worthy of a man! and if it should fall thee to receive wounds,
shed thy blood as a beneficent dew, and smile."

And Sancho Panza says to me in his turn,

"Remain just what heaven made thee, comrade! Prefer the bread-crust
which has become dry in thy wallet to all the partridges that roast
in the kitchen of lords. Obey thy master, whether he by a wise man
or a fool, and do not cumber thy brain with too many useless things.
Fear blows; 'tis verily tempting God to seek after danger!"

But if the incomparable knight and his matchless squire are imagined
only upon this cane of mine, they are realities to my inner
conscience. Within every one of us there lives both a Don Quixote
and a Sancho Panza to whom we hearken by turns; and though Sancho
most persuades us, it is Don Quixote that we find ourselves obliged
to admire.... But a truce to this dotage!--and let us go to see
Madame de Gabry about some matters more important than the everyday
details of life....

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