Hamlet and Don Quixote. The Weakest Link Breaks

“We said that the simultaneous appearance of ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Hamlet’ seemed significant to us. We felt that in these two types are embodied two fundamental, opposing features of human nature—both ends of the axis on which it turns. We felt that all people belong more or less to one of these two types; that almost each of us strays either into Don Quixote or into Hamlet. True, in our time there are far more Hamlets than Don Quixotes; but Don Quixotes have not disappeared either.

Let us explain.

All people live—consciously or unconsciously—according to their principle, their ideal, that is, according to what they consider to be truth, beauty, goodness. Many receive their ideal already completely formed—in certain, historically established forms…”