--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a…" description: "\"Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.\" — Miguel de Cervantes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png" --- # Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight… ![“Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.” quote by Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png) > “Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.” [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A warning that cowardice invites attack, urging bravery to avoid being preyed upon. **In simple terms:** Cowards attract danger. Key Takeaway Be courageous. Themes courage honor conflict Mood reflective encouraging Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal confrontations - bullying - leadership challenges Key Concepts heroic ideal medieval chivalry Questions to Reflect On - When have you faced a threat due to fear? - What steps can you take to act bravely? A Different Perspective Bravery may lead to greater risk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attacks/) [Coward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coward/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Fly Cowards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fly-cowards-1002054/) [Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knight/) [Knight Attacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knight-attacks-1002052/) [Knights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knights/) [Single Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-knight-1002053/) ## Related quotes > [What if custom is wrong? demanded the part of her that believed in the code of chivalry. A knight must set things right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/what-if-custom-is-wrong-demanded-the-part-of-her-that-believed-in-the/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [Oi’m always noble, sir; it’s in my blood. ’As been ever since Oi ate that knight a few years back. Why?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-haydon/oi-m-always-noble-sir-it-s-in-my-blood-as-been-ever-since-oi-ate-that/) [Elizabeth Haydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-haydon/) > [Knight saved it with his back arm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-brown/knight-saved-it-with-his-back-arm/) [Ian Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-brown/) > [There isn't a woman player in the world I can't give knight-odds to and still beat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-fischer/there-isn-t-a-woman-player-in-the-world-i-can-t-give-knight-odds-to/) [Bobby Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-fischer/) > [And sometimes, you need your knight in shining armour,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/and-sometimes-you-need-your-knight-in-shining-armour/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) > [Technically, I'm a knight. My family goes back a thousand years in the Naples area. We're a titled, noble people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sorvino/technically-i-m-a-knight-my-family-goes-back-a-thousand-years-in-the/) [Paul Sorvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sorvino/) > [This knight was indeed a valiant gentleman; but not a little given to romance, when he spake of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-evelyn/this-knight-was-indeed-a-valiant-gentleman-but-not-a-little-given-to/) [John Evelyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-evelyn/) > [“War seems like a fine adventure, the greatest most of them will ever know. Then they get a taste of battle. For some, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/war-seems-like-a-fine-adventure-the-greatest-most-of-them-will-ever/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Remember the White Knight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trenton-lee-stewart/remember-the-white-knight/) [Trenton Lee Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trenton-lee-stewart/) > [Knight without fear and without reproach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/knight-without-fear-and-without-reproach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The word knight, which originally meant boy or servant, was particularly applied to a young man after he was admitted to the privilege of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bulfinch/the-word-knight-which-originally-meant-boy-or-servant-was/) [Thomas Bulfinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bulfinch/) > [Son, my name isn't Knight to you, it's Coach Knight or it's Mr. Knight. I don't call people by their last name and neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-knight/son-my-name-isn-t-knight-to-you-it-s-coach-knight-or-it-s-mr-knight-i/) [Bobby Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-knight/) > [Tartakower once wrote that after planting a Knight in the center you can go to sleep. This is not to be taken literally, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-reshevsky/tartakower-once-wrote-that-after-planting-a-knight-in-the-center-you/) [Samuel Reshevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-reshevsky/) > [I still hung onto the hope that my broken knight would gallop back into my life and sweep me off my feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-meredith-walters/i-still-hung-onto-the-hope-that-my-broken-knight-would-gallop-back/) [A. Meredith Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-meredith-walters/) > [The fact that a knight is temporarily on the edge of the board is of no great significance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-karpov/the-fact-that-a-knight-is-temporarily-on-the-edge-of-the-board-is-of/) [Anatoly Karpov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-karpov/) ## More by Miguel de Cervantes > [Beware, gentle knight - the greatest monster of them all is reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/beware-gentle-knight-the-greatest-monster-of-them-all-is-reason/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [He had a face like a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/he-had-a-face-like-a-blessing/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-one-thing-to-praise-discipline-and-another-to-submit-to-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/those-who-ll-play-with-cats-must-expect-to-be-scratched/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“So it appears to me, for when he could and should have wielded his pen to praise the virtues of so good a knight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/so-it-appears-to-me-for-when-he-could-and-should-have-wielded-his-pen/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/too-much-sanity-may-be-madness-and-maddest-of-all-to-see-life-as-it/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Old, that's an affront no woman can well bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/old-that-s-an-affront-no-woman-can-well-bear/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One should not talk of hatters in the house of the hanged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-should-not-talk-of-hatters-in-the-house-of-the-hanged/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [It is courage that vanquishes in war, and not good weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/it-is-courage-that-vanquishes-in-war-and-not-good-weapons/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [I follow a more easy, and, in my opinion, a wiser course, namely--to inveigh against the levity of the female sex, their fickleness, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/i-follow-a-more-easy-and-in-my-opinion-a-wiser-course-namely-to/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Every man is as heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/every-man-is-as-heaven-made-him-and-sometimes-a-great-deal-worse/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Great people create great acts of kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/great-people-create-great-acts-of-kindness/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [One day, in the San Francisco walk, he came upon some badly painted figures and observed that good painters imitate nature but bad ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-day-in-the-san-francisco-walk-he-came-upon-some-badly-painted/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Drink moderately, for drunkeness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/drink-moderately-for-drunkeness-neither-keeps-a-secret-nor-observes-a/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) [Explore all 386 Miguel de Cervantes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) ## More Attacks quotes > [The way I look at it is, cancer research is absolutely nonpartisan. Cancer is very democratic in the sense that it attacks people regardless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-koch/the-way-i-look-at-it-is-cancer-research-is-absolutely-nonpartisan/) [David H. Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-koch/) > [I personally felt that his ad hominen attacks on British architects were not the sort of thing a Prince of Wales should be doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-holden/i-personally-felt-that-his-ad-hominen-attacks-on-british-architects/) [Anthony Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-holden/) > [The administration of George W. Bush, emboldened by the Sept. 11 attacks and the backing of a Republican Congress, has sought to further extend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-feldman/the-administration-of-george-w-bush-emboldened-by-the-sept-11-attacks/) [Noah Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-feldman/) > [If nothing else, the cyber attacks that occurred during the 2016 presidential election have laid bare the very real vulnerabilities that exist across our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/if-nothing-else-the-cyber-attacks-that-occurred-during-the-2016/) [Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/) > [We've had Saudis and Jordanians and Pakistanis who have - and Syrians - who have been involved in armed attacks against coalition forces in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armitage/we-ve-had-saudis-and-jordanians-and-pakistanis-who-have-and-syrians/) [Richard Armitage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armitage/) > [“At the same time that we see a massive deployment of wireless radiation, we see the most violent attacks on modern society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/at-the-same-time-that-we-see-a-massive-deployment-of-wireless/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [At sleepovers I would have panic attacks trying to break it to girls that they didn't want to kiss me without outing myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/io-tillett-wright/at-sleepovers-i-would-have-panic-attacks-trying-to-break-it-to-girls/) [iO Tillett Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/io-tillett-wright/) > [I knew I was having a panic attack. I hadn't had one in a while, though, and I'd forgotton how it makes me feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/i-knew-i-was-having-a-panic-attack-i-hadn-t-had-one-in-a-while-though/) [Hemantsmarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemantsmarty/) > [We now know that gun-free zones, though well intentioned, do not prevent attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-prince/we-now-know-that-gun-free-zones-though-well-intentioned-do-not/) [Erik Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-prince/) > [Weichel hits very hard and is very good with the timing of his attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricio-freire/weichel-hits-very-hard-and-is-very-good-with-the-timing-of-his-attacks/) [Patricio Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricio-freire/) > [The wrongful arrest of tens of thousands of British Muslims after the September 11 attacks can be explained by the very poor intelligence the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-mulgan/the-wrongful-arrest-of-tens-of-thousands-of-british-muslims-after-the/) [Geoff Mulgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-mulgan/) > [Mediocrity always attacks excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/mediocrity-always-attacks-excellence/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [The majority of terrorist attacks that have been disrupted in the United States have been disrupted due to things like the Time Square bomber,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-majority-of-terrorist-attacks-that-have-been-disrupted-in-the/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [We can't gather the intelligence we need to foil future attacks, if we are blindly granting terrorists the right to remain silent. But for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-can-t-gather-the-intelligence-we-need-to-foil-future-attacks-if-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Less than a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Qaida attacks were continuing: the firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia in April, a bomb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/less-than-a-year-after-the-sept-11-attacks-al-qaida-attacks-were/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) [Browse all 291 Attacks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attacks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Miguel de Cervantes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-single-knight-attacks-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attacks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-single-knight-attacks-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/miguel-de-cervantes-715_attacks_fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-si_2494907.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you.” — Miguel de Cervantes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Miguel de Cervantes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fly not, cowards and vile beings,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-single-knight-attacks-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/fly-not-cowards-and-vile-beings-for-a-single-knight-attacks-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```