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Excerpt from The World's Heritage of Epical, Heroic and Romantic Literature, Vol. 2 of 2
The volume closes with Don Quixote, that famous and immortal satire of knight-errantry and decadent romance, which has long been a classic not only in Spain but in almost every country in Europe and in the Americas. Its in¿uence on modern literature can scarcely be overestimated. Cervantes lingers at the elbow of every writer of poetry or prose as a friendly critic, who throws ridicule on false poses and empty bombast, and urges that salvation may be found in the realities of life without necessarily forgetting high ideals of thought and action. Although essentially a humorist, he was also a great teacher, who by precept and example showed that enthusiasm does not necessarily justify itself, however intensive it may be, and that great literature need not involve slavish attachment to the manners and customs of the past. Withal he was a supreme master of style, whose whole heart was devoted to perfecting his art. As he was, therefore, a constructive as well as a destructive critic, it is appropriate that such a volume as this should be brought to a close in the healthy atmosphere of his gentle irony and not unkindly humour.
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