A statement that seems to contradict itself or common sense but, when thought through, reveals a truth.
In Don Quixote
since you have, by right, left me crooked, leaving me with a broken leg that will never be straight for the rest of its days; and the wrong you did me was to leave me wronged, so that I shall be wronged forever.
The wrong "undone" was to leave the bachelor "wronged forever": the motto of one who undoes wrongs produces, in the sentence, the exact opposite of what it promises.
look up, longed-for homeland, and see that your son Sancho Panza returns to you, if not very rich, very well whipped. Open your arms and receive also your son Don Quixote, who, if he comes defeated by the arms of others, comes victorious over himself, which, as he told me, is the greatest victory one can desire. I bring money, for if they gave me good lashes, I would have gone a knight well enough.
Subscription
The explanation of each passage, in every device and in every work, comes with a subscription.