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
peace war military
The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.
mind body wedlock
The wedlocks of minds will be greater than that of bodies.
men village six
The Jewish usurers are fast-rooted even in the smallest villages, and if they lend five gulden they require a security of six times as much. They charge interest, upon interest, and upon this again interest, so that the poor man loses everything that he owns.
grief men
Time takes away the grief of men.
knowledge delay height
You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn.
christian add theologian
Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians.
life inspire live-by
To know nothing is the happiest life.
heaven atheism scripture
It's the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide.
wise wisdom sin
He who doesn't sin, is the greatest sinner of all.
book use thumbs
I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly as well as daily use thumb them, batter them, wear them out, who fill out all the margins with annotations of many kinds, and who prefer the marks of a fault they have erased to a neat copy full of faults.
laughter argument
Many times what cannot be refuted by arguments can be parried by laughter.
devil matter easier
'Tis an easier matter to raise the devil than to lay him.
mother nature heart
Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of another s.
leadership courage physicians
God has administered to us of the present age, a bitter draught and a harsh physician, on account of our abounding infirmities.