Note 23 — MADRID AND THE ESCORIAL
Reading edition
"Io cristiano viejo soy, y para ser Conde esto me basta"—old Spanish proverb, quoted by Sancho Panza. Proverbs, which Cervantes called "short sentences drawn from long experience," often show the qualities of a race. In many of the popular sayings of Castile is found the strong feeling of manhood's equality:
"Cuando Dios amanece, para todos amanece." "Mientras que duermen todos son iguales." "No ocupo más pies de tierra el cuerpo del Papa que el del sacristan."