Michael Sugrue

“What Don Quixote does is he undermines our experience of futility in the world by pointing out that although many of our aspirations are dashed, there is still a sort of spiritual grandeur attached to them nonetheless. And despite all our failings, our strivings are noblest, and that is an important part of life. Quixote reminds us that there are still great comedies yet to be created, both in literature and in life; it may be that tragedy and epic are no longer possible for us because our age precludes tragic heroes or epic heroes -- there's nobody quite big enough -- but we still live in an age where comedy and comic heroes are possible. There are still comedies to be created, great comedies in our literature in our life, and the reason why is because life still requires affirmation, then as now and hope remains
a virtue. Don Quixote reminds us of what we were like before we succumb to experience.”
― Michael Sugrue