How we cite our quotes: (Part.Book.Chapter.Paragraph) We use the P. A. Motteux translation from 1712 for our quotes. Some familiar character names appear differently in this edition (Sancho Panza is Sancho Panca here, Rocinante is Rozinante, and Doña Rodriguez is Donna Rodriguez). We preserve Motteux's spellings in our quotes but use the more familiar versions of these names in our analysis.
Quote #1
This chimera disturbed him, as if it had been a real truth; so that he began to be mightily perplexed, reflecting on the danger to which his honour was exposed. But at last his virtue overcame the powerful temptation. (1.3.1.4)
While staying at an inn, Don Quixote thinks that a woman is sneaking into his bed to tempt him into having sex with her. But he is so loyal to his Dulcinea that he resists. The truth is that the woman is actually trying to sneak into someone else's bed, but you still have to give Don Quixote kudos for resisting.
Quote #2
[Sancho] was very uneasy at hearing that knights-errant were out of fashion, and books of chivalry full of nothing but folly and fiction; he resolved, however (in spite of all their contempt of chivalry) still to stick by his master. (1.4.5.3)
At several times in this book, Sancho suspects that his master might be eccentric. But nonetheless, Sancho has made a commitment to stand by Don Quixote through thick and thin, and it's a passage like this that reminds us of his loyalty.
Quote #3
"[And] if, as I am confident she will, she be able to resist so agreeable a temptation, I shall think myself the most happy man in the world." (1.4.6.4)
When Anselmo asks his buddy Lothario to try to seduce his wife, he thinks he'll be the happiest man in the world when his wife proves her loyalty to him. The problem, though, is that when his wife says no to Lothario, Anselmo thinks that Lothario just isn't trying hard enough. So there's basically no way Anselmo will ever be satisfied about his wife's loyalty. It could be that loyalty is something you just can't test. It proves itself naturally, on its own.