Great Authors - Literature of the Renaissance - Cervantes, Don Quixote
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You can find Don Quixote here https://amzn.to/3zNkB1u This is the official YouTube channel of Dr. Michael Sugrue. Please consider subscribing to be notified of future videos, as we upload Dr. Sugrue's vast archive of lectures. Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.
https://youtu.be/VDQpT-r2-ao?si=eXIYo7AHPaJyES09
Read Don Quixote with Hardcore Literature:
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Why should you read "Don Quixote"? - Ilan Stavans
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2,948,898 views Oct 8, 2018
Check out our Patreon page: / teded Mounting his skinny steed, Don Quixote charges an army of giants. It is his duty to vanquish these behemoths in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea. There’s only one problem: the giants are merely windmills. What is it about this tale of the clumsy yet valiant knight that makes it so beloved? Ilan Stavans investigates. Lesson by Ilan Stavans, directed by Avi Ofer.
/ teded Mounting his skinny steed, Don Quixote charges an army of giants. It is his duty to vanquish these behemoths in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea. There’s only one problem: the giants are merely windmills. What is it about this tale of the clumsy yet valiant knight that makes it so beloved? Ilan Stavans investigates. Lesson by Ilan Stavans, directed by Avi Ofer.Don Quixote isn’t just a madman chasing windmills—he’s every one of us who dares to believe in something bigger than what the world tells us is practical.
In Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, Don Quixote, after reading too many tales of knighthood, sets out as a self-made hero. He sees windmills and imagines giants—foolish, perhaps, but also brave. The world laughs at him, but he persists, sword in hand, fueled not by reality but by conviction. That’s why the phrase “tilting at windmills” endures: it captures both the nobility and futility of idealism.
Why should you care?
Because anyone who’s ever pursued a vision others can’t see—a cure, a cause, a breakthrough—has a bit of Don Quixote in them. In a world that rewards conformity and metrics, it takes imagination to dream, and courage to act on that dream, even if it makes you look ridiculous. And that’s what makes change possible.
Current estimates put Don Quixote (1605) at ≈ 500 million copies sold/printed, making it the best-selling single novel in history—ahead of any individual work by Shakespeare.
Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605) is not only a towering work of Renaissance literature but also widely considered the first modern novel. It had a profound influence on global literature, often cited as the most widely read book in the world after the Bible. For centuries, it has sold more copies than any other novel—including those by Shakespeare.
A few key facts:
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Don Quixote was an immediate success upon publication and was translated into numerous languages early on.
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Its print circulation has historically outpaced Shakespeare’s plays on a single-title basis. While Shakespeare’s entire corpus is widely published and performed, no single play has matched the enduring, global sales of Don Quixote.
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The novel’s themes—idealism, madness, the nature of reality—transcend time and culture, making it a perennial point of reference in psychology, philosophy, politics, and science.
