Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Full Name: Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño
Birthdate: January 17, 1600
Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
Date of Death: May 25, 1681
Occupation: Author, Playwright, Poet, and Priest
Profile: Recognized as the foremost Spanish dramatist of his age. Best known for
Life is a Dream.
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Calder%C3%B3n_de_la_Barca
Number of Quotes: 75
'Tis not where we lie but whence we fell; the loss of Heaven's the greatest pain in Hell.
A friar who asks alms for God's sake begs for two.
A good action is never lost; it is a treasure laid up and guarded for the doer's need.
A king must be given property and life, but honor is the soul's heritage, and the soul belongs only to God.
El alcalde de Zalamea (Act III).
A person's true wealth is measured by the good he does in the world.
A single act of kindness can have a ripple effect that changes the world.
A true leader is one who inspires others to greatness.
All life is a dream, and all dreams are dreams.
All just laws condemn cruelty.
All must yield to the weight of years; conquest is not difficult for time.
And yet, and yet, in these our ghostly lives, Half night, half day, half sleeping, half awake, How if our
waking life, like that of sleep, Be all a dream in that eternal life To which we wake not till we sleep in death.
At the point when affection is not frenzy, it is not adore.
Beauty is not found in perfection, but in the unique flaws that make us who we are.
But whether it be dream or truth, to do well is what matters. If it be truth, for truth's sake. If not, then to gain friends for the time when we awaken.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of it.
Do not ask God for a lighter burden; ask for broader shoulders to carry the weight.
Do not judge a man by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.
Dreams are rough copies of the waking soul Yet uncorrected of the higher will, So that men sometimes in their dreams confess An unsuspected,
or forgotten, self; -Since Dreaming, Madness, Passion, are akin In missing each that salutory rein Of reason, and the grinding will of man.
Dreams are the wings that allow us to fly beyond our limitations.
Even in dreams doing good is not wasted.
Every ending is a new beginning in disguise.
For all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams.
La vida es sueño (Act II, Scene XIX).
For even in dreams a good deed is not lost.
For man's greatest crime is to have been born.
La vida es sueño (Act I, Scene II).
Great events have sent before them their announcements.
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.
Grief has been compared to a hydra; for every one that dies, two are born.
Happiness resides within ourselves, not in the external world.
Honor flows like water, never to return.
El médico de su honra (Act III).
Honor is the soul's life, and without it, it is better to die.
El alcalde de Zalamea.
Hope is the flame that keeps us going in the darkest of times.
How surely a knowledge of the world hardens the heart!
I more easily forgive he who takes my property than he who stains my honor and name.
El alcalde de Zalamea.
If a pretty woman only knew how anger improved her beauty! Her complexion needs no other paint than indignation.
In love, there are no boundaries, only the limits we impose upon ourselves.
In this treacherous world, nothing is the truth nor a lie. Everything depends on the color of the crystal through which one sees it.
Life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams.
La vida es sueño (Act II, Scene XIX).
Life is a dream, and dreams, though told by an idiot, often contain truth.
Life is a game, and the wise player knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em.
Light-enchanted sunflower, thou
Who gazest ever true and tender
On the sun's revolving splendour.
Love has a thousand faces, but the truest form is the one that withstands all adversity.
Love is a flame that burns in the heart, never to be extinguished.
Love is the only gold.
Love that is not madness is not love.
Love, when not guided by reason, can become a thousand ills.
Never confide your secrets to paper; it is like throwing a stone in the air; and if you know who throws the stone, you do not know where it may fall.
No glory is lasting, no love is eternal.
No virtue can be real that has not been tried. The gold in the crucible alone is perfect; the loadstone
tests the steel, and the diamond is tried by the diamond, while metals gleam the brighter in the furnace.
No windows give a better view than those a man brings with him in his head, not asking for tickets of
admission, since at all functions, festivals, or feasts he looks out with the same nice self-composure.
One may know how to gain a victory, and know not how to use it.
Our treasures trifles seem, and all our life is dreaming, and the dreams themselves are dreams.
Restless sunflower; cease to move.
Speak no evil of women; I tell thee the meanest of them deserves respect; for of women do we not all come?
The conqueror of others is strong, but the conqueror of oneself is mighty.
The dower of great beauty has always been misfortune, since happiness and beauty do not agree together.
The fox is very cunning, but he is more cunning who catches the fox.
The greatest battle is the one we fight within ourselves.
The heart is an astrologer that always divines the truth.
The king dreams he is a king, and in this delusion lives, commanding, arranging, and
governing; this applause he borrows writes on the wind, and death turns it all to ashes.
La vida es sueño (Act II, Scene XIX).
The only way to truly live is to embrace each moment as it comes.
The only way to truly understand others is to first understand oneself.
The road to success is paved with hard work and determination.
The worst enemy is the one who pretends to be a friend.
These flowers, which were splendid and sprightly, waking in the dawn of the
morning, in the evening will be a pitiful frivolity, sleeping in the cold night's arms.
They say that the best counsel is that of woman.
Though the night be brightest... dreams, imaginings, shadows, and visions are but what the soul perceives.
La vida es sueño (Act II).
Time is the greatest ally and the fiercest enemy.
To forgive is to free oneself from the chains of resentment.
To the King, one must give his possessions and his life; but honour is a
possession of soul, and the soul is only God's.
True wealth is not found in material possessions, but in the richness of the soul.
We are what we believe we are.
What is life? A frenzy. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a fiction; and the greatest good is small; for all life is a dream, and dreams are only dreams.
La vida es sueño (Act II, Scene XIX).
What law, what reason can deny that gift so sweet, so natural that God has given a stream, a fish, a beast, a bird?
When love is not madness, it is not love.
Casa con dos puertas, mala es de guardar (Act I, Scene I).
Wisdom is not measured by age, but by experience.
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