“Take care, sir,” cried Sancho. “Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone.”
In 1992, my Spanish grandmother gifted me the TV series “El Quijote” in VHS format, directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. I watched this during my childhood countless times. From a 9-year-old perspective, it was pure comedy. Somehow, it did have a lasting effect on me, and I’m confident it was because it contained the critical element of tragedy. So, I would laugh at what I thought was Don Quixote’s silliness, but I would be sorry for him whenever he fell from his horse, Rocinante.
“The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha“, an early 17th-century novel and the first of its kind – how extraordinary is that? – was a satire on orthodoxy, nationalism, and idealism, from which we can still learn great lessons. Let’s take as an example the iconic scene of “tilting windmills”, which describes the act of attacking imaginary enemies. “Tilting at windmills” was an expression used by Miguel de Cervantes. Still, it turned out to be a universal idiom used up to these days to describe situations where adversaries or scenarios are incorrectly perceived. What could be a mere windmill can be wrongly magnified into something gigantic and surreal. Translated into modern times, we all should be wary of the battles that are worth our energy and time. Maybe the key is to be a little bit more like Sancho Panza and less like the “Knight of the Sad Face”, and understand how the windmill turns the millstone instead of trying to fight it.
“Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless.”
“What giants?” asked Sancho Panza.
“Those you see over there,” replied his master, “with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length.”
“Take care, sir,” cried Sancho. “Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone.”
— Part 1, Chapter VIII. “Don Quixote” Miguel de Cervantes
Spanish version:
¿Luchando contra molinos de viento? ¡Elije tus batallas!
Portuguese version:
Ariadne Revisited 