3-098-926 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Don Quixote and the windmills, c1900. Episode from Cervantes' novel "Don Quixote", published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. Tilting at windmills is an English language idiom that means "attacking imaginary enemies". The word "tilt" in this context refers to jousting. This phrase, sometimes also expressed as "charging at windmills" or "fighting the windmills", describes an act of attacking imaginary enemies (or an act of extreme idealism), and derives from an iconic scene in the book.