“Liberty, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts that heaven has bestowed upon men; no treasures that the earth holds buried or the sea conceals can equal it.”Miguel de Cervantes · Don Quijote · 1615 · Partea a II-a, capitolul 58
No fortune is worth the freedom you trade away to get it.
The words are spoken by Quixote to Sancho, who has just been offered a post as governor, but the idea goes far beyond the scene. Cervantes puts a very practical lesson in the mouth of a dreamer: any wealth gained by giving up freedom is a bad bargain. An official who stays in a well-paid job that demands lies and humiliation pays exactly the price the sentence describes.
Why it matters Useful when weighing an attractive offer that comes bundled with control over your life.