Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Cervantes work, Don Quixote.
“The girls were looking at him and straining their eyes to make out the features which the clumsy visor obscured, but when they heard themselves called maidens, a thing so much out of their line, they could not restrain their laughter, which made Don Quixote wax indignant, and say, “Modesty becomes the fair, and moreover laughter that has little cause is great silliness; This, however, I say not to pain or anger you, for my desire is none other than to serve you”” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Note: Don Quixote’s view of the women was different from that which most had of them. Don Quixote saw beyond the surface and saw the goodness each woman had that was obscured by their reputation. How often I judge others by appearance or reputation only to be humbled when I more deeply discover the person’s gifts. When we look for the good in others, we usually find it. When we cut them some slack, we often find that they are cutting us some slack. We are imperfect beings working our way through life. I think it’s better to be prospectors for the good in others and in ourselves.