Tilting at windmills Tilting at windmills Tilting at windmills is an English idiom that means attacking imaginary enemies. The expression is derived from the 1605 novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, and the word "tilt" in this context comes from jousting. The phrase is sometimes used to describe either confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications. It may also connote an importune, unfounded, and vain effort against adversaries real or imagined for a vain goal. The phrase comes from an episode in the Cervantes novel wherein protagonist
Tilted Arc when the weather permitted office workers to eat their lunch outside.” The Storefront for Art and Architecture invited prominent NYC artists and architects to envision the future plaza as a protest in "After Tilted Arc". The trial involving "Tilted Arc" is cited as the most notorious public sculpture controversy in the history of art law. It was argued in the trial that the work would "run the risk of deflecting explosions into government buildings opposite and impeded adequate surveillance of the area beyond." A public hearing was held on the subject of the sculpture in March 1985, with 122 people