--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don Quixote thought he could have made…" description: "\"Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful bird-cages and toothpicks if his brain had not been so full of ideas of chivalry. Most people would su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_ambition_don-quixote-thought-he-could-have-made-b_1180583.jpg" --- # Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful… ![“Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful bird-cages and toothpicks if his brain had not been so full of ideas of chivalry. Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.” quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_ambition_don-quixote-thought-he-could-have-made-b_1180583.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_ambition_don-quixote-thought-he-could-have-made-b_1180583.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/357/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_ambition_don-quixote-thought-he-could-have-made-b_1180583.jpg) > “Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful bird-cages and toothpicks if his brain had not been so full of ideas of chivalry. Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.” [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great ambitions can distract from achieving modest, practical goals. **In simple terms:** Big dreams can block small successes. Key Takeaway Focus on realistic tasks. Themes ambition practicality focus Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal projects - daily chores - career tasks - creative work Key Concepts chivalry distraction goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What small task could you finish today? - How do big dreams affect your daily work? A Different Perspective Even modest goals need effort; ambition isn’t the only obstacle. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Bird cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird-cage/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Chivalry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chivalry/) [Great ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ambition/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Small things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-things/) ## Related quotes > [Never was Catholicism, never were the ideas of chivalry, impressed on men so deeply, so multifariously, as the bourgeois ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/never-was-catholicism-never-were-the-ideas-of-chivalry-impressed-on/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [Give me brain...Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/give-me-brain-ideas/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“A brain with many ideas is like a house with many windows! Inside is full of lights!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-brain-with-many-ideas-is-like-a-house-with-many-windows-inside-is/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Ever since we broke up, it was like I was a free bird from it's cage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-laura/ever-since-we-broke-up-it-was-like-i-was-a-free-bird-from-it-s-cage/) [Jasmine Laura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-laura/) > [He who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/he-who-defines-his-conduct-by-ethics-imprisons-his-song-bird-in-a-cage/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [A person isn't a bird. You can't cage a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/a-person-isn-t-a-bird-you-can-t-cage-a-person/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [“He said what nobody understood was, she always felt like a bird in a cage--she wanted to be without roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-alcott/he-said-what-nobody-understood-was-she-always-felt-like-a-bird-in-a/) [Kate Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-alcott/) > [There is nothing worst than a bird in a cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jch2012/there-is-nothing-worst-than-a-bird-in-a-cage/) Jch2012 > [I tried to put a bird in a cage. O fool that I am! For the bird was Truth. Sing merrily, Truth: I tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/i-tried-to-put-a-bird-in-a-cage-o-fool-that-i-am-for-the-bird-was/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [A believer is a bird in a cage, a freethinker is an eagle parting the clouds with tireless wing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/a-believer-is-a-bird-in-a-cage-a-freethinker-is-an-eagle-parting-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Bird cage is nice only when it is empty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/bird-cage-is-nice-only-when-it-is-empty/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Put a bird cage near the window so that the bird can see the sky? It's much better to look than not to, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/klaus-kinski/put-a-bird-cage-near-the-window-so-that-the-bird-can-see-the-sky-it-s/) [Klaus Kinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/klaus-kinski/) > [... Let the cage bird and the cage bird mate and the wild bird mate in the wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/let-the-cage-bird-and-the-cage-bird-mate-and-the-wild-bird-mate-in/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The sound of the harpsichord resembles that of a bird-cage played with toasting-forks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-beecham/the-sound-of-the-harpsichord-resembles-that-of-a-bird-cage-played/) [Thomas Beecham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-beecham/) > [“Do you want to be kept in a little cage? No! Because it is a horror! But then why do you keep a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-you-want-to-be-kept-in-a-little-cage-no-because-it-is-a-horror-but/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow > [The spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-spring-came-suddenly-bursting-upon-the-world-as-a-child-bursts/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [In old age our bodies are worn-out instruments, on which the soul tries in vain to play the melodies of youth. But because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-old-age-our-bodies-are-worn-out-instruments-on-which-the-soul/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“ Endymion The rising moon has hid the stars; Her level rays, like golden bars, Lie on the landscape green, With shadows brown between.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/endymion-the-rising-moon-has-hid-the-stars-her-level-rays-like-golden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [There's nothing fair nor beautiful, but takes Something from thee, that makes it beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/there-s-nothing-fair-nor-beautiful-but-takes-something-from-thee-that/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/fame-comes-only-when-deserved-and-then-is-as-inevitable-as-destiny/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Nature paints not; In oils, but frescoes the great dome of heaven; With sunsets, and the lovely forms of clouds; And flying vapors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/nature-paints-not-in-oils-but-frescoes-the-great-dome-of-heaven-with/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“  Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers,—   Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from   Fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-dwelt-together-in-love-these-simple-acadian-farmers-dwelt-in-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/heights-by-great-men-reached-and-kept-were-not-obtained-by-sudden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [All things come round to him who will but wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/all-things-come-round-to-him-who-will-but-wait/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Ah, how skillful grows the hand That obeyeth Love's command! It is the heart, and not the brain, That to the highest doth attain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/ah-how-skillful-grows-the-hand-that-obeyeth-love-s-command-it-is-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Thus departed Hiawatha, Hiawatha the Beloved, In the glory of the sunset, In the purple mists of evening, To the regions of the home-wind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-departed-hiawatha-hiawatha-the-beloved-in-the-glory-of-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Books are sepulchres of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/books-are-sepulchres-of-thought/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/morality-without-religion-is-only-a-kind-of-dead-reckoning-an/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Buried was the bloody hatchet; Buried was the dreadful war-club; Buried were all warlike weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten. Then was peace among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/buried-was-the-bloody-hatchet-buried-was-the-dreadful-war-club-buried/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Explore all 755 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Don Quixote thought he could have made beautiful bird-cages and toothpicks if his brain had not been so full of ideas of chivalry. 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