Desiderius Erasmus Quotes

105 quotes in 1392 categories

• Ask a wise man to dinner and he'll upset everyone by his gloomy silence or tiresome questions. Invite him to a dance and you'll have…
• There is no joy in possession without sharing.
• They may attack me with an army of six hundred syllogisms; and if I do not recant, they will proclaim me a heretic.
• They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds. Dogs dung smells sweet as cinnamon to them.
• [N]o party is any fun unless seasoned with folly.
• The opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be.
• Do not put chewed bones back on plates. Instead, throw them on the floor for the dog.
• Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
• Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.
• By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that Carpenter can mankind be remade.
• As an example of just how useless these philosophers are for any practice in life there is Socrates himself, the one and only wise man,…
• [Only by] the good influence of our conduct may we bring salvation in human affairs; or like a fatal comet we may bring destruction in…
• 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…
• Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people's advantage, while intent…
• Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering.
• 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…
• Don't give your advice before you are called upon.
• Wherever you encounter truth, look upon it as Christianity.
• No Man is wise at all Times, or is without his blind Side.
• There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.

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