Man of La Mancha/Quotes

"Duke:	Governor, if you don’t mind, I would like to prosecute this man. Cervantes: 	Why does his grace wish to prosecute me? Duke: Let us say I dislike… Stupidity. Especially when it masquerades as virtue!"

"To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, ''To bear with unbearable sorrow, To run where the brave dare not go,

''To right the unrightable wrong, ''To love, pure and chaste from afar, ''To try, when your arms are too weary, To reach the unreachable Star!

''This is my quest, to follow that Star, ''No matter how hopeless, no matter how far, ''To fight for the right, without question or pause, ''To be willing to march into Hell for a Heavenly cause, ''And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest, ''That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.

''And the world will be better for this, ''That one man, scorned and covered with scars, ''Still strove with his last ounce of courage, ''To fight the unbeatable foe, To reach the unreachable Star!"

- "The Impossible Dream"

"Cervantes: Life as it is. I have lived nearly fifty years, and I have seen... life as it is. Pain, misery, hunger ... cruelty beyond belief. I have heard the singing from taverns and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets. I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle ... or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I have held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no gallant last words ... only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question, "Why?" I do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams -- this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness, And maddest of all, to see life as it is, and not as it should be!"