Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian...
NationalityDutch
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth26 October 1466
inspirational genius talent
No one respects a talent that is concealed.
wisdom kings men
In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
men
Man is to man either a god or a wolf.
passion men feelings
Jupiter, not wanting man's life to be wholly gloomy and grim, has bestowed far more passion than reason --you could reckon the ration as twenty-four to one. Moreover, he confined reason to a cramped corner of the head and left all the rest of the body to the passions.
army six may
They may attack me with an army of six hundred syllogisms; and if I do not recant, they will proclaim me a heretic.
wise men greek
Out of all those centuries the Greeks can count seven sages at the most, and if anyone looks at them more closely I swear he'll not find so much as a half-wise man or even a third of a wise man among them.
sleep remember exquisite
Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering.
church one-day
I put up with this church, in the hope that one day it will become better, just as it is constrained to put up with me in the hope that I will become better.
names brain pieces
...it is a sneaking piece of cowardice for authors to put feigned names to their works, as if, like bastards of their brain, they were afraid to own them.
wise men sides
No Man is wise at all Times, or is without his blind Side.
kings teaching hard-work
For them it's out-of-date and outmoded to perform miracles; teaching the people is too like hard work, interpreting the holy scriptures is for schoolmen and praying is a waste of time; to shed tears is weak and womanish, to be needy is degrading; to suffer defeat is a disgrace and hardly fitting for one who scarcely permits the greatest of kings to kiss the toes of his sacred feet; and finally, death is an unattractive prospect, and dying on a cross would be an ignominious end.
giving advice
Don't give your advice before you are called upon.
philosophy power hands
If you look at history you'll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.
degrees bliss form
The highest form of bliss is living with a certain degree of folly