CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Desiderius Erasmus - Wikiquote</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-disabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikiquotemwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"8dd31a9a-a374-4d45-bb57-6aad586d95ac","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Desiderius_Erasmus","wgTitle":"Desiderius Erasmus","wgCurRevisionId":3692780,"wgRevisionId":3692780,"wgArticleId":3262,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Humanists","Philosophers from the Netherlands","Historians from the Netherlands","Theologians","Roman Catholic priests","Essayists from the Netherlands","Non-fiction authors from the Netherlands","Translators from the Netherlands","Satirists","Educators from the Netherlands","Latin authors","1466 births","1536 deaths","Catholics from the Netherlands"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Desiderius_Erasmus","wgRelevantArticleId":3262,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikiquote","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":true,"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":true,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":30000,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q43499","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"wgSiteNoticeId":"2.3"}; RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.dismissableSiteNotice"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.dismissableSiteNotice.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.22"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Holbein-erasmus.jpg/1200px-Holbein-erasmus.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1698"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Holbein-erasmus.jpg/960px-Holbein-erasmus.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1132"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="906"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Desiderius Erasmus - Wikiquote"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikiquote.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikiquote (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikiquote.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikiquote Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="auth.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Desiderius_Erasmus rootpage-Desiderius_Erasmus skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" title="Main menu" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Community_Portal" title="About the project, what you can do, where to find things"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-Village-pump" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Village_pump"><span>Village pump</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random page [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random page</span></a></li><li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="The place to find out"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-Contact-Wikiquote" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:Contact_us"><span>Contact Wikiquote</span></a></li><li id="n-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages"><span>Special pages</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-Wikiquote_links" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-Wikiquote_links" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Wikiquote links </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-People" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_people_by_name"><span>People</span></a></li><li id="n-Literary-works" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_literary_works"><span>Literary works</span></a></li><li id="n-Proverbs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Proverbs"><span>Proverbs</span></a></li><li id="n-Films" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_films"><span>Films</span></a></li><li id="n-TV-shows" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/List_of_television_shows"><span>TV shows</span></a></li><li id="n-Themes" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Themes"><span>Themes</span></a></li><li id="n-Categories" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Category:Categories"><span>Categories</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikiquote.svg" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikiquote" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikiquote-wordmark-fr.svg" style="width: 4.8125em; height: 2.5em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikiquote [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikiquote" aria-label="Search Wikiquote" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikiquote [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikiquote.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Desiderius+Erasmus" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Desiderius+Erasmus" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="More options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikiquote.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Desiderius+Erasmus" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Desiderius+Erasmus" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><div id="mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace"></div><script>(function(){var node=document.getElementById("mw-dismissablenotice-anonplace");if(node){node.outerHTML="\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-close\"\u003E[\u003Ca tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"\u003Ehide\u003C/a\u003E]\u003C/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-dismissable-notice-body\"\u003E\u003C!-- CentralNotice --\u003E\u003Cdiv id=\"localNotice\" data-nosnippet=\"\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"anonnotice\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"position:absolute; z-index:100; right:100px; top:-0px;\" class=\"metadata\" id=\"donate\"\u003E\n\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align:right; font-size:80%\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EYour \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising\" class=\"extiw\" title=\"wikimedia:Fundraising\"\u003Econtinued donations\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/b\u003E keep Wikiquote running!\u003C/i\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E";}}());</script></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">Beginning</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Quotes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Quotes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Quotes</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Quotes-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Quotes subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Quotes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Handbook_of_the_Christian_Soldier_(1503)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Handbook_of_the_Christian_Soldier_(1503)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span><i>Handbook of the Christian Soldier</i> (1503)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Handbook_of_the_Christian_Soldier_(1503)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Praise_of_Folly_(1511_AD)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Praise_of_Folly_(1511_AD)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span><i>The Praise of Folly</i> (1511 AD)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Praise_of_Folly_(1511_AD)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Handbook_of_the_Militant_Christian_(1514_AD)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Handbook_of_the_Militant_Christian_(1514_AD)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span><i>The Handbook of the Militant Christian</i> (1514 AD)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Handbook_of_the_Militant_Christian_(1514_AD)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Complaint_of_Peace_(1521_A.D.)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Complaint_of_Peace_(1521_A.D.)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.4</span> <span><i>The Complaint of Peace</i> (1521 A.D.)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Complaint_of_Peace_(1521_A.D.)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ciceronianus_(1528)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ciceronianus_(1528)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.5</span> <span><i>Ciceronianus</i> (1528)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ciceronianus_(1528)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Misattributed" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Misattributed"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Misattributed</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Misattributed-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Quotes_about_Erasmus" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Quotes_about_Erasmus"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Quotes about Erasmus</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Quotes_about_Erasmus-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiderius Erasmus</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 34 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-34" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">34 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="Desiderius Erasmus – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3_%D8%A5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3" title="دسيدريوس إراسموس – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="دسيدريوس إراسموس" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rotterdaml%C4%B1_Erazm" title="Rotterdamlı Erazm – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Rotterdamlı Erazm" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%95%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%8A%D0%BC_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8" title="Еразъм Ротердамски – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Еразъм Ротердамски" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bs mw-list-item"><a href="https://bs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazmo_Roterdamski" title="Erazmo Roterdamski – Bosnian" lang="bs" hreflang="bs" data-title="Erazmo Roterdamski" data-language-autonym="Bosanski" data-language-local-name="Bosnian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bosanski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasme_de_Rotterdam" title="Erasme de Rotterdam – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Erasme de Rotterdam" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmus_Rotterdamsk%C3%BD" title="Erasmus Rotterdamský – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Erasmus Rotterdamský" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmus_von_Rotterdam" title="Erasmus von Rotterdam – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Erasmus von Rotterdam" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikiquote.org/wiki/%CE%88%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82" title="Έρασμος – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Έρασμος" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmo_de_Roterdamo" title="Erasmo de Roterdamo – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Erasmo de Roterdamo" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmo_de_R%C3%B3terdam" title="Erasmo de Róterdam – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Erasmo de Róterdam" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%88%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3" title="دسیدریوس اراسموس – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="دسیدریوس اراسموس" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmus_Rotterdamilainen" title="Erasmus Rotterdamilainen – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Erasmus Rotterdamilainen" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89rasme" title="Érasme – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Érasme" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmo_de_R%C3%B3terdam" title="Erasmo de Róterdam – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Erasmo de Róterdam" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%A1%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A1_%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%9D" title="ארסמוס מרוטרדם – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="ארסמוס מרוטרדם" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazmo_Roterdamski" title="Erazmo Roterdamski – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Erazmo Roterdamski" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%B4_%D5%8C%D5%B8%D5%BF%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%B4%D6%81%D5%AB" title="Էրազմ Ռոտերդամցի – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Էրազմ Ռոտերդամցի" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="Desiderius Erasmus – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmo_da_Rotterdam" title="Erasmo da Rotterdam – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Erasmo da Rotterdam" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikiquote.org/wiki/%EB%8D%B0%EC%8B%9C%EB%8D%B0%EB%A6%AC%EC%9C%84%EC%8A%A4_%EC%97%90%EB%9D%BC%EC%8A%A4%EB%AE%88%EC%8A%A4" title="데시데리위스 에라스뮈스 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="데시데리위스 에라스뮈스" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus_Roterodamus" title="Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-li mw-list-item"><a href="https://li.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="Desiderius Erasmus – Limburgish" lang="li" hreflang="li" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus" data-language-autonym="Limburgs" data-language-local-name="Limburgish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Limburgs</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazmas_Roterdamietis" title="Erazmas Roterdamietis – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Erazmas Roterdamietis" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="Desiderius Erasmus – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazm_z_Rotterdamu" title="Erazm z Rotterdamu – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Erazm z Rotterdamu" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erasmo_de_Rotterdam" title="Erasmo de Rotterdam – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Erasmo de Rotterdam" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BC_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9" title="Эразм Роттердамский – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Эразм Роттердамский" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazmus_Rotterdamsk%C3%BD" title="Erazmus Rotterdamský – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Erazmus Rotterdamský" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erazem_Rotterdamski" title="Erazem Rotterdamski – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Erazem Rotterdamski" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%95%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%BE_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8" title="Еразмо Ротердамски – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Еразмо Ротердамски" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="Desiderius Erasmus – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Desiderius Erasmus" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%95%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BC_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9" title="Еразм Ротердамський – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Еразм Ротердамський" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E5%9F%83%E6%8B%89%E6%96%AF%E7%A9%86%E6%96%AF" title="埃拉斯穆斯 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="埃拉斯穆斯" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q43499#sitelinks-wikiquote" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Page</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Desiderius_Erasmus" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Discussion</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Desiderius_Erasmus" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Desiderius_Erasmus" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:UploadWizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&oldid=3692780" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Desiderius_Erasmus&id=3692780&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikiquote.org%2Fwiki%2FDesiderius_Erasmus"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikiquote.org%2Fwiki%2FDesiderius_Erasmus"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-create_a_book" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:Book&bookcmd=book_creator&referer=Desiderius+Erasmus"><span>Create a book</span></a></li><li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=show-download-screen"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikipedia mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus" hreflang="en"><span>Wikipedia</span></a></li><li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikisource mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Desiderius_Erasmus" hreflang="en"><span>Wikisource</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q43499" title="Link to connected data repository item [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikiquote</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Holbein-erasmus.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Holbein-erasmus.jpg/250px-Holbein-erasmus.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="311" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Holbein-erasmus.jpg/330px-Holbein-erasmus.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Holbein-erasmus.jpg/500px-Holbein-erasmus.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1618" data-file-height="2290" /></a><figcaption>In the <a href="/wiki/Country" class="mw-disambig" title="Country">country</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Blind" class="mw-redirect" title="Blind">blind</a> the one-<a href="/wiki/Eyed" class="mw-redirect" title="Eyed">eyed</a> <a href="/wiki/Man" title="Man">man</a> is king.</figcaption></figure> <p><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus_Roterodamus" class="extiw" title="w:Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus">Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam</a></b> (<a href="/wiki/27_October" class="mw-redirect" title="27 October">27 October</a> <a href="/wiki/1466" class="mw-disambig" title="1466">1466</a> – <a href="/wiki/12_July" class="mw-redirect" title="12 July">12 July</a> <a href="/wiki/1536" class="mw-disambig" title="1536">1536</a>) was a Dutch <a href="/wiki/Philosopher" class="mw-redirect" title="Philosopher">philosopher</a>, <a href="/wiki/Humanist" class="mw-redirect" title="Humanist">humanist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Theologian" class="mw-redirect" title="Theologian">theologian</a>. </p> <dl><dd><dl><dd><dl><dd><b>See also</b>: <i><b><a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">The Praise of Folly</a></b></i></dd></dl></dd></dl></dd></dl> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Quotes">Quotes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Quotes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg/250px-Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg/330px-Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg/500px-Rotterdam-monument-erasmus.jpg 2x" data-file-width="569" data-file-height="427" /></a><figcaption>Do not be <a href="/wiki/Guilty" class="mw-redirect" title="Guilty">guilty</a> of possessing a <a href="/wiki/Library" class="mw-redirect" title="Library">library</a> of learned <a href="/wiki/Books" title="Books">books</a> while lacking <a href="/wiki/Learning" title="Learning">learning</a> yourself.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg/250px-Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="291" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg/330px-Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg/500px-Hans_Holbein_d._J._-_Erasmus_-_Louvre.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2024" data-file-height="2679" /></a><figcaption>What is <a href="/wiki/Life" title="Life">life</a> but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Holbein-erasmus3.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Holbein-erasmus3.jpg/250px-Holbein-erasmus3.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="318" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Holbein-erasmus3.jpg/330px-Holbein-erasmus3.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Holbein-erasmus3.jpg/500px-Holbein-erasmus3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="652" data-file-height="942" /></a><figcaption>I am a <a href="/wiki/Lover" class="mw-redirect" title="Lover">lover</a> of <a href="/wiki/Liberty" title="Liberty">liberty</a>. I will not and I cannot serve a party.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG/250px-Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="293" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG/330px-Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG/500px-Erasmus_at_EUR.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1536" data-file-height="2048" /></a><figcaption>I am a <a href="/wiki/Citizen" class="mw-redirect" title="Citizen">citizen</a> of the <a href="/wiki/World" title="World">world</a>, known to <a href="/wiki/All" class="mw-redirect" title="All">all</a> and to all a <a href="/wiki/Stranger" class="mw-redirect" title="Stranger">stranger</a>.</figcaption></figure> <ul><li>Animals only follow their natural instincts; but man, unless he has experienced the influence of learning and philosophy, is at the mercy of impulses that are worse than those of a wild beast. There is no beast more savage and dangerous than a human being who is swept along by the passions of ambition, greed, anger, envy, extravagance, and sensuality. <ul><li><i>De pueris statim ac liberaliter instituendis declamatio</i> (1529), translated by Beert C. Verstraete as <i>On Education for Children</i>, in <i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (University of Toronto Press: 1990), p. 73</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>No Man is <a href="/wiki/Wise" class="mw-redirect" title="Wise">wise</a> at all Times, or is without his blind Side.</b> <ul><li><i>The Alchymyst</i>, in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14031/14031.txt"><i>Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I.</i></a></li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I consider as lovers of <a href="/wiki/Books" title="Books">books</a> 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.</b> <ul><li>Letter to an unidentified friend (1489), as translated in <i>Collected Works of Erasmus</i> (1974), p. 58</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>A constant element of <a href="/wiki/Enjoyment" title="Enjoyment">enjoyment</a> must be mingled with our studies, so that we think of <a href="/wiki/Learning" title="Learning">learning</a> as a <a href="/wiki/Game" title="Game">game</a> rather than a form of drudgery, for no activity can be continued for long if it does not to some extent afford <a href="/wiki/Pleasure" title="Pleasure">pleasure</a> to the participant.</b> <ul><li>Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in <i>Collected Works of Erasmus</i> (1974), p. 114</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>You must acquire the best <a href="/wiki/Knowledge" title="Knowledge">knowledge</a> first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn.</b> <ul><li>Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in <i>Collected Works of Erasmus</i> (1974), p. 114</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.</b> <ul><li>Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in <i>Collected Works of Erasmus</i> (1974), p. 115</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>Ad Graecas literas totum animum applicui; statimque ut pecuniam accepero, Graecos primum autores, deinde vestes emam.</i> <ul><li><b>I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives, is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall buy clothes.</b></li> <li>Letter to Jacob Batt (12 April 1500); <i>Collected Works of Erasmus</i> Vol 1 (1974)</li> <li>Variant translation: When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>In regione caecorum rex est luscus.</i> <ul><li><b>In the <a href="/wiki/Country" class="mw-disambig" title="Country">country</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Blind" class="mw-redirect" title="Blind">blind</a> the one-<a href="/wiki/Eyed" class="mw-redirect" title="Eyed">eyed</a> <a href="/wiki/Man" title="Man">man</a> is king.</b></li> <li><i>Adagia</i> (first published 1500, with numerous expanded editions through 1536), III, IV, 96</li> <li>Also in the same passage of the <i>Adagia</i> is a variant: Inter caecos regnat strabus (Among the blind, the squinter rules).</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>The most disadvantageous <a href="/wiki/Peace" title="Peace">peace</a> is better than the most <a href="/wiki/Just" class="mw-redirect" title="Just">just</a> <a href="/wiki/War" title="War">war</a>.</b> <ul><li><i>Adagia</i> (1508)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><i>Bis dat, qui cito dat.</i> <ul><li>He that gives quickly gives twice.</li> <li><i>Adagia</i> (1508)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>There are monasteries where there is no discipline, and which are worse than brothels</b> — <i>ut prae his lupanaria sint et magis sobria et magis pudica</i>. <b>There are others where religion is nothing but ritual; and these are worse than the first, for the Spirit of God is not in them, and they are inflated with self-righteousness.</b> There are those, again, where the brethren are so sick of the imposture that they keep it up only to deceive the vulgar. The houses are rare indeed where the rule is seriously observed, and even in these few, if you look to the bottom, you will find small sincerity. <b>But there is craft, and plenty of it — craft enough to impose on mature men, not to say innocent boys; and this is called profession.</b> Suppose a house where all is as it ought to be, you have no security that it will continue so. A good superior may be followed by a fool or a tyrant, or an infected brother may introduce a moral plague. True, in extreme cases a monk may change his house, or even may change his order, but leave is rarely given. <b>There is always a suspicion of something wrong, and on the least complaint such a person is sent back.</b> <ul><li>Letter to Lambertus Grunnius (August 1516), published in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ussXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=%22is+no+discipline+and+which+are+worse+than+brothels%22&source=bl&ots=PnJjrkSLNB&sig=JPY0PhTf2YgYwJlf3uH2eTvCJeA&hl=en&ei=BGwXTNqTA5XANu6_pJ8L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22is%20no%20discipline%20and%20which%20are%20worse%20than%20brothels%22&f=false"><i>Life and Letters of Erasmus : Lectures delivered at Oxford 1893-4</i> (1894)</a> edited by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude" class="extiw" title="w:James Anthony Froude">James Anthony Froude</a>, p. 180</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I have no patience with those who say that sexual excitement is shameful and that venereal stimuli have their origin not in nature, but in sin. Nothing is so far from the truth.</b> As if marriage, whose function cannot be fulfilled without these incitements, did not rise above blame. In other living creatures, where do these incitements come from? From nature or from sin? From nature, of course. It must borne in mind that in the apetites of the body there is very little difference between man and other living creatures. Finally, we defile by our imagination what of its own nature is fair and holy. <b>If we were willing to evaluate things not according to the opinion of the crowd, but according to nature itself, how is it less repulsive to eat, chew, digest, evacuate, and sleep after the fashion of dumb animals, than to enjoy lawful and permitted carnal relations?</b> <ul><li><i>In Praise of Marriage</i> (1519), in <i>Erasmus on Women</i> (1996) Erika Rummel</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I am a lover of liberty. I will not and I cannot serve a party.</b> <ul><li><i>Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni</i> (1523), § 176, As quoted in <i>Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam</i> (1900) by Ephraim Emerton, p. 377</li> <li>Variant: I am a lover of liberty. I cannot and will not serve parties.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>There is no doubt about <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther" title="Martin Luther">Martin Luther</a>'s marriage, but the rumour about his wife's early confinement is false; she is said however to be pregnant now. <b>If there is truth in the popular legend, that Antichrist will be born from a monk and a nun (which is the story these people keep putting about), how many thousands of Antichrists the world must have already!</b> <ul><li>Responding to rumours prompted by the marriage of Martin Luther, in a letter to François Dubois (13 March 1526), as translated in <i>The Correspondence of Erasmus : Letters 1658 to 1801, January 1526-March 1527</i> (1974) edited by Charles Garfield Nauert and Alexander Dalzell, p. 79</li> <li>Paraphrased variant: They say that the Antichrist will be born of a monk and a nun. If so, there must already be thousands of Antichrists.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>The world thought well of my schoolmaster guardian, because he was neither a liar, nor a scamp, nor a gambler; but he was coarse, <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/avaricious#Adjective" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:avaricious">avaricious</a>, and ignorant; he knew nothing beyond the confused lessons which he taught to his classes. He imagined that in forcing a youth to become a monk he would be offering a sacrifice acceptable to God. He used to boast of the many victims which he devoted annually to Dominic and Francis and Benedict. <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Life and Letters of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered at Oxford 1893-4</i> (1899) by James Anthony Froude</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>Wherever you encounter <a href="/wiki/Truth" title="Truth">truth</a>, look upon it as <a href="/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>.</b> <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Erasmus of Rotterdam‎</i> (1934) by Stefan Zweig, Eden Paul, and Cedar Paul, p. 91; reprinted in <i>Erasmus — The Right to Heresy</i> (2008) by Stefan Zweig, p. 62</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.</b> <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Thomas More and Erasmus</i> (1965) by Ernest Edwin Reynolds, p. 248</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger.</b> <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Erasmus</i> (1970) by György Faludy, p. 197</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><b>I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of <a href="/wiki/Insanity" title="Insanity">insanity</a>. The only difference is one of degree.</b> A man who sees a gourd and takes it for his wife is called insane because this happens to very few people. <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Words from the Wise : Over 6,000 of the Smartest Things Ever Said</i> (2007) by Rosemarie Jarski, p. 312. From <i><a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">The Praise of Folly</a></i>.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>For we have in Latin only a few small streams and muddy puddles, while they have pure springs and rivers flowing in gold. I see that it is utter madness even to touch with the little finger that branch of theology that deals chiefly with the divine mysteries, unless one is also provided with the equipment of Greek. <ul><li>As quoted in <i>Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World</i> (2017) by By Eric Metaxas, p. 85</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Handbook_of_the_Christian_Soldier_(1503)"><span id="Handbook_of_the_Christian_Soldier_.281503.29"></span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbook_of_a_Christian_Knight" class="extiw" title="w:Handbook of a Christian Knight">Handbook of the Christian Soldier</a></i> (1503)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1503)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Most Christians are superstitious rather than pious, and except for the name of Christ differ hardly at all from superstitious pagans. <ul><li><i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (1990), pp. 140-141.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Whatever you see in the more material part of yourself, learn to refer to God and to the invisible part of yourself. In that way, whatever offers itself to the senses will become for you an occasion for the practice of piety. <ul><li><i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (1990), p. 141.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>You venerate the saints, and you take pleasure in touching their relics. But you disregard their greatest legacy, the example of a blameless life. No devotion is more pleasing to Mary than the imitation of Mary's humility. No devotion is more acceptable and proper to the saints than striving to imitate their virtues. <ul><li><i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (1990), p. 144.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Praise_of_Folly_(1511_AD)"><span id="The_Praise_of_Folly_.281511_AD.29"></span><i><a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">The Praise of Folly</a></i> (1511 AD)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: The Praise of Folly (1511 AD)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dd><div class="noprint"><i>Main article: <a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">The Praise of Folly</a></i></div></dd></dl> <ul><li><b>For what is life but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?</b></li></ul> <ul><li>This type of man who is devoted to the study of wisdom is always most unlucky in everything, and particularly when it comes to procreating children; I imagine this is because Nature wants to ensure that the evils of wisdom shall not spread further throughout mankind.</li></ul> <ul><li>It might be wiser for me to avoid <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamarina,_Sicily" class="extiw" title="w:Kamarina, Sicily">Camarina</a> and say nothing of theologians. They are a proud, susceptible race. They will smother me under six hundred dogmas. They will call me heretic and bring thunderbolts out of their arsenals, where they keep whole magazines of them for their enemies. Still they are Folly's servants, though they disown their mistress. They live in the third heaven, adoring their own persons and disdaining the poor crawlers upon earth. They are surrounded with a bodyguard of definitions, conclusions, corollaries, propositions explicit, and propositions implicit. ...They will tell you how the world was created. They will show you the crack where Sin crept in and corrupted mankind. <ul><li>as quoted by <a href="/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude" title="James Anthony Froude">James Anthony Froude</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5tB4L4J9hlYC"><i>Life and Letters of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered at Oxford 1893-4</i></a> (1899)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>They [the theologians] will explain to you how Christ was formed in the Virgin's womb; how accident subsists in <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/synaxis" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:synaxis">synaxis</a> without <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domicile_(law)" class="extiw" title="w:Domicile (law)">domicile</a> in <i>place</i>. The most ordinary of them can do this. Those more fully initiated explain further whether there is an <i>instans</i> in Divine generation; whether in Christ there is more than a single <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/filiation" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:filiation">filiation</a>; whether 'the Father hates the Son' is a possible proposition; whether God can become the substance of a woman, of an ass, of a pumpkin, or of the devil, and whether, if so, a pumpkin could preach a sermon, or work miracles, or be crucified. And they can discover a thousand other things to you besides these. They will make you understand notions, and instants, formalities, and <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quiddity#Noun" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:quiddity">quiddities</a>, things which no eyes ever saw, unless they were eyes which could see in the dark what had no existence. <ul><li>as quoted by Froude ibid., (1899)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Of how much more passion than reason has Jupiter composed us? putting in, as one would say, "scarce half an ounce to a pound."</li></ul> <p><br /> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Handbook_of_the_Militant_Christian_(1514_AD)"><span id="The_Handbook_of_the_Militant_Christian_.281514_AD.29"></span><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/handbookofmilita0000eras/"><i>The Handbook of the Militant Christian</i></a> (1514 AD)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: The Handbook of the Militant Christian (1514 AD)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>(Translated by John P Dolan) </p> <ul><li>Let me mention another requirement for a better understanding of Holy Scripture. I would suggest that you read those commentators who do not stick so closely to the literal sense. The ones I would recommend most highly after St. Paul himself are Origen, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine. Too many of our modern theologians are prone to a literal interpretation, which they subtly misconstrue. p.37</li></ul> <ul><li>In this life it is necessary that we be on our guard. To begin with we must be constantly aware of the fact that life here below is best described as being a type of continual warfare. This is a fact that Job, that undefeated soldier of vast experience, tells us so plainly. Yet in this matter the great majority of mankind is often deceived, for the world, like some deceitful magician, captivates their minds with seductive blandishments, and as a result most individuals behave as if there had been a cessation of hostilities. p.61</li></ul> <ul><li>The things that we can see with our physical eyes are mere shadows of reality. If they appear ugly and ill formed, then what must be the ugliness of the soul in sin, deprived of all light? The soul, like the body, can undergo transformation in appearance. In sin it appears as completely ugly to the beholder. In virtue it shines resplendently before God.</li></ul> <ul><li>Like the body the soul can be healthy, youthful, and so on. It can undergo pain, thirst, and hunger. In this physical life, that is, in the visible world, we avoid whatever would defile or deform the body; how much more, then, ought we to avoid that which would tarnish the soul?</li></ul> <ul><li>I feel that the entire spiritual life consists in this: That we gradually turn from those things whose appearance is deceptive to those things that are real. p. 63</li></ul> <ul><li>Once we have tasted the sweetness of what is spiritual, the pleasures of the world will have no attraction for us. If we disregard the shadows of things, then we will penetrate their inner substance.</li></ul> <ul><li>You worry whether the drought will end. It is far better that you pray that God may water your mind lest virtue wither away in it. You are greatly concerned with money that is lost or being wasted, or you worry about the advance of old age. I think it much to be desired that you provide first of all for the needs of your soul.</li></ul> <ul><li>Origen, of course, is also a great advocate of the allegorical approach. Yet I think you will have to admit that our modem theologians either despise this method of interpretation or are completely ignorant of it. As a matter of fact they surpass the pagans of antiquity in the subtlety of their distinctions. p. 63</li></ul> <ul><li>Anyone who actually admires money as the most precious thing in life, and rests his security on it to the extent of believing that as long as he possesses it he will be happy, has fashioned too many false gods for himself. Too many people put money in the place of Christ, as if it alone has the key to their happiness or unhappiness. p. 100</li></ul> <ul><li>The worst evil is hardness of heart. Those who do not repent, who deliberately remain in their habits of sin, have the most to fear. p. 146</li></ul> <ul><li>Careful thought about this will reveal how few there are who are truly converted from evil habits, especially among those who have prolonged their lives of sin right up to the end. The path down to evil is quick, slippery, and easy. But to turn and “to go forth to the upper air . . . this is effort, this is toil.” Think of Aesop’s goat before you descend and remember that climbing out is not easy. p. 147</li></ul> <ul><li>Not to be a proud and haughty person, you have to follow the old proverb and “know thyself.” That is to say, you must regard your special talents, whatever beauty or fame you have, as gifts from God, and not as things you earned for yourself. Whatever is low and mean is not God’s doing, however. Here you can only blame yourself. Remember the squalor of your birth and how naked and poor you were when you crawled into the light of day like a little animal. p.154</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Complaint_of_Peace_(1521_A.D.)"><span id="The_Complaint_of_Peace_.281521_A.D..29"></span><i><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complaint_of_Peace" class="extiw" title="s:The Complaint of Peace">The Complaint of Peace</a></i> (1521 A.D.)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Complaint of Peace (1521 A.D.)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>(Peace speaks in her own person) </p> <ul><li>Though I certainly deserve no ill treatment from mortals, yet if the insults and repulses I receive were attended with any advantage to them, I would content myself with lamenting in silence my own unmerited indignities and man's injustice.</li></ul> <ul><li>This world, the whole of the planet called earth, is the common country of all who live and breathe upon it.</li></ul> <ul><li>Among the celestial bodies that are revolving over our heads, though the motions are not the same, and though the force is not equal, yet they move, and ever have moved, without clashing, and in perfect harmony.</li></ul> <ul><li>The very elements themselves, though repugnant in their nature, yet, by a happy equilibrium, preserve eternal peace; and amid the discordancy of their constituent principles, cherish, by a friendly intercourse and coalition, an uninterrupted concord.</li></ul> <ul><li>In living bodies, how all the various limbs harmonize, and mutually combine, for common defence against injury! What can be more heterogeneous, and unlike, than the body and the soul? and yet with what strong bonds nature has united them, is evident from the pang of separation. As life itself is nothing else but the concordant union of body and soul, so is health the harmonious cooperation of all the parts and functions of the body.</li></ul> <ul><li>Animals destitute of reason live with their own kind in a state of social amity. Elephants herd together; sheep and swine feed in flocks; cranes and crows take their flight in troops; storks have their public meetings to consult previously to their emigration, and feed their parents when unable to feed themselves; dolphins defend each other by mutual assistance; and everybody knows, that both ants and bees have respectively established by general agreement, a little friendly community.</li></ul> <ul><li>But plants, though they have not powers of perception, yet, as they have life, certainly approach very nearly to those things which are endowed with sentient faculties. What then is so completely insensible as stony substance? yet even in this, there appears to be a desire of union. Thus the loadstone attracts iron to it, and holds it fast in its embrace, when so attracted. Indeed, the attraction of cohesion, as a law of love, takes place throughout all inanimate nature.</li></ul> <ul><li>I need not repeat, that the most savage of the savage tribes in the forest, live among each other in amity. Lions show no fierceness to the lion race. The boar does not brandish his deadly tooth against his brother boar. The lynx lives in peace with the lynx. The serpent shews no venom in his intercourse with his fellow serpent; and the loving kindness of wolf to wolf is proverbial.</li></ul> <ul><li>As Christ had recommended peace during the whole of his life, mark with what anxiety he enforces it at the approach of his dissolution. Love one another, says he; as I have loved you, so love one another; and again, my peace I give unto you, my peace I leave you. Do you observe the legacy he leaves to those whom he loves? Is it a pompous retinue, a large estate, or empire? Nothing of this kind. What is it then? Peace he giveth, his peace he leaveth; peace, not only with our near connections, but with enemies and strangers!</li></ul> <ul><li>As to the people; in all these countries the greater part of the people certainly detest war, and most devoutly wish for peace. A very few of them, indeed, whose unnatural happiness depends upon the public misery, may wish for war; but be it yours to decide, whether it is equitable or not, that the unprincipled selfishness of such wretches should have more weight than the anxious wishes of all good men united.</li></ul> <ul><li>Let the public good overcome all private and selfish regards of every kind and degree; though in truth, even private and selfish regards, and every man's own interest, will be best promoted by the preservation of peace.</li></ul> <ul><li>Finally, every man will become dear and pleasing to every other man; all will be beloved by all! and, what is still more desirable, beloved also by Christ; to become acceptable to whom is the highest felicity of human nature.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ciceronianus_(1528)"><span id="Ciceronianus_.281528.29"></span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciceronianus" class="extiw" title="w:Ciceronianus">Ciceronianus</a></i> (1528)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Ciceronianus (1528)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>We must learn how to imitate <a href="/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a> from Cicero himself. Let us imitate him as he imitated others. <ul><li>in <i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (1990), p. 130.</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>A speech comes alive only if it rises from the heart, not if it floats on the lips. <ul><li>in <i>The Erasmus Reader</i> (1990), p. 130.</li></ul></li></ul> <p><br /></p><div style="padding: .5em; border: 1px solid black; background-color: #FFE7CC;"> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Misattributed">Misattributed</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Misattributed"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><i>Dulce bellum inexpertis.</i> <ul><li><b>War is sweet to them that know it not.</b> <ul><li>Though Erasmus quoted this proverb in Latin at the start of his essay <i>Bellum</i> [<i>War</i>], and it is sometimes attributed to him, it originates with the Greek poet <a href="/wiki/Pindar" title="Pindar">Pindar</a> ("γλυκύ δ᾽ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος [War is sweet to them that know it not.]"). See also <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dulce_bellum_inexpertis" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:dulce bellum inexpertis">Wiktionary:dulce bellum inexpertis</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>Variant translations: <ul><li>War is sweet to those not acquainted with it.</li> <li>War is sweet to those who do not know it.</li> <li>War is sweet to those that never have experienced it.</li> <li>War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Quotes_about_Erasmus">Quotes about Erasmus</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Quotes about Erasmus"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:J.M._Coetzee.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/J.M._Coetzee.JPG/250px-J.M._Coetzee.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="293" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/J.M._Coetzee.JPG/330px-J.M._Coetzee.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/J.M._Coetzee.JPG 2x" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="480" /></a><figcaption>Erasmus dramatizes a well-established political position: that of the fool who claims license to criticize all and sundry without reprisal, since his madness defines him as not fully a person. ~ <a href="/wiki/J._M._Coetzee" title="J. M. Coetzee">J. M. Coetzee</a></figcaption></figure> <ul><li>Erasmus’s <a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">Moria</a> … sees through the madness of those who see themselves as reasonable and self-possessed while in reality giving themselves over to rivalry. <ul><li>David Attwell, “The life and times of Elizabeth Costello,” <i>J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual</i> (2006), p. 34</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>What is unique about Folly’s mode of truth is its positionality: it comes “not from ‘the wise man’s mouth’ but from the mouth of the subject assumed not to know and speak the truth.” Folly’s truth entails “a kind of <i>ek-stasis</i>, a being outside oneself, being beside oneself, a state in which truth is known (and spoken) from a position that does not know itself to be the position of truth.” <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attwell" class="extiw" title="w:David Attwell">David Attwell</a>, “The life and times of Elizabeth Costello,” <i>J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual</i> (2006), p. 35</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>As a representative of both the feminine and the parodic, Moria does not set out to expose or destroy social conventions: her wisdom lies in working with them, without being ruled by them. <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attwell" class="extiw" title="w:David Attwell">David Attwell</a>, “The life and times of Elizabeth Costello,” <i>J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual</i> (2006), p. 35</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>What is the position of someone who sees behind the masks, but refuses to expose them violently? … <i>The Praise of Folly</i> marks out such a position, ‘prudently disarming itself in advance, keeping its phallus the size of the woman’s, steering clear of the play of power, clear of politics.’ <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attwell" class="extiw" title="w:David Attwell">David Attwell</a>, “The life and times of Elizabeth Costello,” <i>J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual</i> (2006), pp. 35-36</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Erasmus dramatizes a well-established political position: that of the fool who claims license to criticize all and sundry without reprisal, since his madness defines him as not fully a person and therefore not a political being with political desires and ambitions. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Praise_of_Folly" title="The Praise of Folly">The Praise of Folly</a></i>, therefore sketches the possibility of a position for the critic of the scene of political rivalry, a position not simply impartial between the rivals but also, by self-definition, off the stage of rivalry altogether. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/J._M._Coetzee" title="J. M. Coetzee">J. M. Coetzee</a>, “Erasmus’s Praise of Folly: Rivalry and Madness,” <i>Neophilologus</i> 76 (1992), p. 1</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Erasmus advises students to read only the best books on the subjects with which they are occupied. He cautions them against loading their memories with the errors of inferior writers which they will afterwards have to throw off and forget. The best description of the state of Europe in the age immediately preceding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation" class="extiw" title="w:Protestant Reformation">the Reformation</a> will be found in the correspondence of Erasmus himself. I can promise my own readers that if they will accept Erasmus for a guide in that entangled period, they will not wander far out of the way. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude" title="James Anthony Froude">James Anthony Froude</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5tB4L4J9hlYC"><i>Life and Letters of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered at Oxford 1893-4</i></a> (1894, 1899)</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>I am going to speak to you this evening about the 'Encomium Moriæ,' if not the most remarkable, yet the most effective of all Erasmus's writings. It originated... in his conversations with <a href="/wiki/Thomas_More" title="Thomas More">More</a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea,_London" class="extiw" title="w:Chelsea, London">Chelsea</a>. ...and the title is a humorous play on More's own name. <ul><li>James Anthony Froude, <i>Life and Letters of Erasmus</i> (1894) Lecture VIII</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Folly, <i>Moria</i>, speaks in her own name and declares herself the frankest of beings. The jester of the age was often the wisest man; the so called wise men were often the stupidest of blockheads: and the play of wit goes on from one aspect to the other, the ape showing behind the purple, and the ass under the lion's skin. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude" title="James Anthony Froude">James Anthony Froude</a>, <i>Life and Letters of Erasmus</i> (1894) Lecture VIII</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Meanwhile rational Europe, trying to keep inflammable passion and mad peasant blood within decent bounds, had lost its great spokesman in Erasmus. He died in April. The torch of good reason was for the moment dimmed. Two firebrands, still obscure, were planning the conquest of mankind for a Christ of their own making, each asking his followers to immolate their reason and to bind their will. In 1536 <a href="/wiki/John_Calvin" title="John Calvin">John Calvin</a> published his <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutes_of_the_Christian_Religion" class="extiw" title="w:Institutes of the Christian Religion">Institutio</a></i>. In the same year a Spanish Basque, to be known as <a href="/wiki/Ignatius_Loyola" class="mw-redirect" title="Ignatius Loyola">Ignatius Loyola</a>, was finishing the studies at Paris that underlay the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesus" class="extiw" title="w:Society of Jesus">Society of Jesus</a>. <a href="/wiki/Henry_VIII" class="mw-disambig" title="Henry VIII">Henry</a>'s 'moderation,' on the terms of his own dominance, would push half-evolved Europeans along the road of the modern state, while Calvin and Loyola, borrowing statecraft and rousing the lust of warfare with the breath of the Eternal, would stir in religion precisely the same appetite for earthly dominance. Beside them Erasmus might seem a feeble creature, sitting by his open fire with a glass of Burgundy in front of him. But Erasmus had made the New Testament his labour of love. He was not a hero, like Loyola or Calvin. He was not an 'emperor' as Henry now called himself. He was only a humanist. Beside him the Jesuits, affirming liberty and vowing obedience, or the Calvinists, affirming predestination and applying the scourge, recalled very ancient priesthoods and glorious savage instincts that cry from the caverns to be released even if they must carry a Bible in their hand. Yet the <a href="/wiki/Jesus" title="Jesus">Galilean Jew</a> could not have despised the humanist: if he had rested by the fire with Erasmus, this book of the New Testament on his knees, and a glass of Burgundy before him, perhaps he might have raised those sad eyes to see that truth and charity had lingered for an instant at Basle, finding an honest welcome there that the Word was still alive; that the arm of the law and the methods of torture, to which his own thin hands bore witness, were perhaps not the only ways to prize the divinity in man. <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Hackett" class="extiw" title="w:Francis Hackett">Francis Hackett</a>, <i>Henry the Eighth</i> (1929), pp. 296–297</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li>Here again you confuse and mix everything up in your usual way. <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther" title="Martin Luther">Martin Luther</a>, <i>On the Bondage of the Will</i></li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="noprint" style="clear: right; border: solid #aaa 1px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 90%; background: #f9f9f9; width: 250px; padding: 4px; spacing: 0px; text-align: left; float: right;"> <div style="float: left;"><figure class="mw-halign-none" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Wikipedia"><img alt="Wikipedia" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/60px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="46" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/75px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/100px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="103" data-file-height="94" /></a><figcaption>Wikipedia</figcaption></figure></div> <div style="margin-left: 60px;"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> has an article about: <div style="margin-left: 10px;"><i><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Desiderius Erasmus">Desiderius Erasmus</a></b></i></div> </div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05510b.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/refo/ho_1975.1.138.htm">Metropolitan Museum of Art</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/la:Moriae_encomium" class="extiw" title="wikisource:la:Moriae encomium"><i>Moriae encomium</i> (in Latin, at Wikisource)</a></li> <li><span class="vcard"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/author/Desiderius+Erasmus">Works by <span class="fn">Erasmus</span></a> at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg" class="extiw" title="w:Project Gutenberg">Project Gutenberg</a></span></li></ul> <table class="wikitable mw-collapsible"> <tbody><tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4" align="center" colspan="3"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_and_political_philosophers" class="extiw" title="w:List of social and political philosophers">Social and political philosophers</a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_philosophy" class="extiw" title="w:Ancient philosophy">Classic</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> • <a href="/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius" title="Marcus Aurelius">Marcus Aurelius</a> • <a href="/wiki/Chanakya" title="Chanakya">Chanakya</a> • <a href="/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a> • <a href="/wiki/Confucius" title="Confucius">Confucius</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mozi" title="Mozi">Mozi</a> • <a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mencius" title="Mencius">Mencius</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mozi" title="Mozi">Mozi</a> • <a href="/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a> • <a href="/wiki/Plutarch" title="Plutarch">Plutarch</a> • <a href="/wiki/Polybius" title="Polybius">Polybius</a> • <a href="/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger" title="Seneca the Younger">Seneca the Younger</a> • <a href="/wiki/Socrates" title="Socrates">Socrates</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sun_Tzu" title="Sun Tzu">Sun Tzu</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thucydides" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a> • <a href="/wiki/Xenophon" title="Xenophon">Xenophon</a> • <a href="/wiki/Xun_Zi" title="Xun Zi">Xun Zi</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4"><a href="/wiki/Conservatism" title="Conservatism">Conservative</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/Alain_de_Benoist" title="Alain de Benoist">de Benoist</a> • <a href="/wiki/Henry_St_John,_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke" title="Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke">Bolingbroke</a> • <a href="/wiki/Louis_de_Bonald" title="Louis de Bonald">Bonald</a> • <a href="/wiki/Edmund_Burke" title="Edmund Burke">Burke</a> • <a href="/wiki/James_Burnham" title="James Burnham">Burnham</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle" title="Thomas Carlyle">Carlyle</a> • <a href="/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge" title="Samuel Taylor Coleridge">Coleridge</a> • <a href="/wiki/Auguste_Comte" title="Auguste Comte">Comte</a> • <a href="/wiki/Juan_Donoso_Cort%C3%A9s" title="Juan Donoso Cortés">Cortés</a> • <a href="/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim" title="Émile Durkheim">Durkheim</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_G%C3%B3mez_D%C3%A1vila" title="Nicolás Gómez Dávila">Dávila</a> • <a href="/wiki/Julius_Evola" title="Julius Evola">Evola</a> • <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Fichte" title="Johann Gottlieb Fichte">Fichte</a> • <a href="/wiki/Robert_Filmer" title="Robert Filmer">Filmer</a> • <a href="/wiki/Francis_Galton" title="Francis Galton">Galton</a> • <a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Gentile" title="Giovanni Gentile">Gentile</a> • <a href="/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel" title="Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel">Hegel</a> • <a href="/wiki/Martin_Heidegger" title="Martin Heidegger">Heidegger</a> • <a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Herder" title="Johann Gottfried Herder">Herder</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes" title="Thomas Hobbes">Hobbes</a> • <a href="/wiki/Hans-Hermann_Hoppe" title="Hans-Hermann Hoppe">Hoppe</a> • <a href="/wiki/David_Hume" title="David Hume">Hume</a> • <a href="/wiki/Bertrand_de_Jouvenel" title="Bertrand de Jouvenel">de Jouvenel</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ernst_J%C3%BCnger" title="Ernst Jünger">Jünger</a> • <a href="/wiki/Russell_Kirk" title="Russell Kirk">Kirk</a> • <a href="/wiki/Erik_von_Kuehnelt-Leddihn" title="Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn">von Kuehnelt-Leddihn</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nick_Land" title="Nick Land">Land</a> • <a href="/wiki/Joseph_de_Maistre" title="Joseph de Maistre">de Maistre</a> • <a href="/wiki/Harvey_Mansfield" title="Harvey Mansfield">Mansfield</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gaetano_Mosca" title="Gaetano Mosca">Mosca</a> • <a href="/wiki/Michael_Oakeshott" title="Michael Oakeshott">Oakeshott</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset" title="José Ortega y Gasset">Ortega</a> • <a href="/wiki/Vilfredo_Pareto" title="Vilfredo Pareto">Pareto</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jordan_Peterson" title="Jordan Peterson">Peterson</a> • <a href="/wiki/George_Santayana" title="George Santayana">Santayana</a> • <a href="/wiki/Carl_Schmitt" title="Carl Schmitt">Schmitt</a> • <a href="/wiki/Roger_Scruton" title="Roger Scruton">Scruton</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Sowell" title="Thomas Sowell">Sowell</a> • <a href="/wiki/Oswald_Spengler" title="Oswald Spengler">Spengler</a> • <a href="/wiki/Leo_Strauss" title="Leo Strauss">Strauss</a> • <a href="/wiki/Hippolyte_Taine" title="Hippolyte Taine">Taine</a> • <a href="/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville" title="Alexis de Tocqueville">Tocqueville</a> • <a href="/wiki/Giambattista_Vico" title="Giambattista Vico">Vico</a> • <a href="/wiki/Eric_Voegelin" title="Eric Voegelin">Voegelin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Richard_Weaver" title="Richard Weaver">Weaver</a> • <a href="/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin" title="Curtis Yarvin">Yarvin</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4"><a href="/wiki/Liberalism" title="Liberalism">Liberal</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/Hannah_Arendt" title="Hannah Arendt">Arendt</a> • <a href="/wiki/Raymond_Aron" title="Raymond Aron">Aron</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Bastiat" title="Frédéric Bastiat">Bastiat</a> • <a href="/wiki/Cesare_Beccaria" title="Cesare Beccaria">Beccaria</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham" title="Jeremy Bentham">Bentham</a> • <a href="/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin" title="Isaiah Berlin">Berlin</a> • <a href="/wiki/%C3%89tienne_de_La_Bo%C3%A9tie" title="Étienne de La Boétie">Boétie</a> • <a href="/wiki/Albert_Camus" title="Albert Camus">Camus</a> • <a href="/wiki/Marquis_de_Condorcet" title="Marquis de Condorcet">Condorcet</a> • <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Constant" title="Benjamin Constant">Constant</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ronald_Dworkin" title="Ronald Dworkin">Dworkin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson" title="Ralph Waldo Emerson">Emerson</a> • <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Erasmus</a> • <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Franklin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Francis_Fukuyama" title="Francis Fukuyama">Fukuyama</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek" title="Friedrich Hayek">Hayek</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson" title="Thomas Jefferson">Jefferson</a> • <a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Kant</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Locke" title="John Locke">Locke</a> • <a href="/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli" title="Niccolò Machiavelli">Machiavelli</a> • <a href="/wiki/James_Madison" title="James Madison">Madison</a> • <a href="/wiki/Henry_James_Sumner_Maine" title="Henry James Sumner Maine">Maine</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill" title="John Stuart Mill">Mill</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Milton" title="John Milton">Milton</a> • <a href="/wiki/H._L._Mencken" title="H. L. Mencken">Mencken</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises" title="Ludwig von Mises">Mises</a> • <a href="/wiki/Michel_de_Montaigne" title="Michel de Montaigne">Montaigne</a> • <a href="/wiki/Montesquieu" title="Montesquieu">Montesquieu</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche" title="Friedrich Nietzsche">Nietzsche</a> • <a href="/wiki/Robert_Nozick" title="Robert Nozick">Nozick</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset" title="José Ortega y Gasset">Ortega</a> • <a href="/wiki/Karl_Popper" title="Karl Popper">Popper</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ayn_Rand" title="Ayn Rand">Rand</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Rawls" title="John Rawls">Rawls</a> • <a href="/wiki/Murray_Rothbard" title="Murray Rothbard">Rothbard</a> • <a href="/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade" title="Marquis de Sade">Sade</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Schiller" title="Friedrich Schiller">Schiller</a> • <a href="/wiki/Georg_Simmel" title="Georg Simmel">Simmel</a> • <a href="/wiki/Adam_Smith" title="Adam Smith">Smith</a> • <a href="/wiki/Herbert_Spencer" title="Herbert Spencer">Spencer</a> • <a href="/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza" title="Baruch Spinoza">Spinoza</a> • <a href="/wiki/Anne_Louise_Germaine_de_Sta%C3%ABl" title="Anne Louise Germaine de Staël">de Staël</a> • <a href="/wiki/Max_Stirner" title="Max Stirner">Stirner</a> • <a href="/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau" title="Henry David Thoreau">Thoreau</a> • <a href="/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville" title="Alexis de Tocqueville">Tocqueville</a> • <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Tucker" title="Benjamin Tucker">Tucker</a> • <a href="/wiki/Voltaire" title="Voltaire">Voltaire</a> • <a href="/wiki/Max_Weber" title="Max Weber">Weber</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft" title="Mary Wollstonecraft">Wollstonecraft</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4"><a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">Religious</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/Abu_Hamid_al-Ghazali" title="Abu Hamid al-Ghazali">al-Ghazali</a> • <a href="/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar" title="B. R. Ambedkar">Ambedkar</a> • <a href="/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine of Hippo</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas" title="Thomas Aquinas">Aquinas</a> • <a href="/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo" title="Sri Aurobindo">Aurobindo</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Calvin" title="John Calvin">Calvin</a> • <a href="/wiki/G._K._Chesterton" title="G. K. Chesterton">Chesterton</a> • <a href="/wiki/Dante_Alighieri" title="Dante Alighieri">Dante</a> • <a href="/wiki/Dayanand_Saraswati" title="Dayanand Saraswati">Dayananda</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky" title="Fyodor Dostoyevsky">Dostoyevsky</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mircea_Eliade" title="Mircea Eliade">Eliade</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi" title="Mahatma Gandhi">Gandhi</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard" title="René Girard">Girard</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pope_Gregory_VII" title="Pope Gregory VII">Gregory</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Gu%C3%A9non" title="René Guénon">Guénon</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jesus" title="Jesus">Jesus</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_of_Salisbury" title="John of Salisbury">John of Salisbury</a> • <a href="/wiki/Carl_Jung" title="Carl Jung">Jung</a> • <a href="/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard" title="Søren Kierkegaard">Kierkegaard</a> • <a href="/wiki/Leszek_Ko%C5%82akowski" title="Leszek Kołakowski">Kołakowski</a> • <a href="/wiki/C._S._Lewis" title="C. S. Lewis">Lewis</a> • <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther" title="Martin Luther">Luther</a> • <a href="/wiki/Maimonides" title="Maimonides">Maimonides</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Malebranche" title="Nicolas Malebranche">Malebranche</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jacques_Maritain" title="Jacques Maritain">Maritain</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_More" title="Thomas More">More</a> • <a href="/wiki/Muhammad" title="Muhammad">Muhammad</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_M%C3%BCntzer" title="Thomas Müntzer">Müntzer</a> • <a href="/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr" title="Reinhold Niebuhr">Niebuhr</a> • <a href="/wiki/William_of_Ockham" title="William of Ockham">Ockham</a> • <a href="/wiki/Origen" title="Origen">Origen</a> • <a href="/wiki/Philo" title="Philo">Philo</a> • <a href="/wiki/Christine_de_Pizan" title="Christine de Pizan">Pizan</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb" title="Sayyid Qutb">Qutb</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan" title="Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan">Radhakrishnan</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ali_Shariati" title="Ali Shariati">Shariati</a> • <a href="/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn" title="Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn">Solzhenitsyn</a> • <a href="/wiki/Charles_Taylor_(philosopher)" title="Charles Taylor (philosopher)">Taylor</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin" title="Pierre Teilhard de Chardin">Teilhard de Chardin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Tertullian" title="Tertullian">Tertullian</a> • <a href="/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy" title="Leo Tolstoy">Tolstoy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda" title="Swami Vivekananda">Vivekananda</a> • <a href="/wiki/Simone_Weil" title="Simone Weil">Weil</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#E4F2E4"><a href="/wiki/Socialism" title="Socialism">Socialist</a></td> <td><a href="/wiki/Theodor_Adorno" title="Theodor Adorno">Adorno</a> • <a href="/wiki/Michel_Aflaq" title="Michel Aflaq">Aflaq</a> • <a href="/wiki/Giorgio_Agamben" title="Giorgio Agamben">Agamben</a> • <a href="/wiki/Alain_Badiou" title="Alain Badiou">Badiou</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin" title="Mikhail Bakunin">Bakunin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard" title="Jean Baudrillard">Baudrillard</a> • <a href="/wiki/Zygmunt_Bauman" title="Zygmunt Bauman">Bauman</a> • <a href="/wiki/Eduard_Bernstein" title="Eduard Bernstein">Bernstein</a> • <a href="/wiki/Judith_Butler" title="Judith Butler">Butler</a> • <a href="/wiki/Noam_Chomsky" title="Noam Chomsky">Chomsky</a> • <a href="/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir" title="Simone de Beauvoir">de Beauvoir</a> • <a href="/wiki/Guy_Debord" title="Guy Debord">Debord</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze" title="Gilles Deleuze">Deleuze</a> • <a href="/wiki/John_Dewey" title="John Dewey">Dewey</a> • <a href="/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois" title="W. E. B. Du Bois">Du Bois</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Engels" title="Friedrich Engels">Engels</a> • <a href="/wiki/Frantz_Fanon" title="Frantz Fanon">Fanon</a> • <a href="/wiki/Michel_Foucault" title="Michel Foucault">Foucault</a> • <a href="/wiki/Charles_Fourier" title="Charles Fourier">Fourier</a> • <a href="/wiki/Erich_Fromm" title="Erich Fromm">Fromm</a> • <a href="/wiki/William_Godwin" title="William Godwin">Godwin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Emma_Goldman" title="Emma Goldman">Goldman</a> • <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Gramsci" title="Antonio Gramsci">Gramsci</a> • <a href="/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas" title="Jürgen Habermas">Habermas</a> • <a href="/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin" title="Peter Kropotkin">Kropotkin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin" title="Vladimir Lenin">Lenin</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jack_London" title="Jack London">London</a> • <a href="/wiki/Rosa_Luxemburg" title="Rosa Luxemburg">Luxemburg</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mao_Zedong" title="Mao Zedong">Mao</a> • <a href="/wiki/Herbert_Marcuse" title="Herbert Marcuse">Marcuse</a> • <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Marx</a> • <a href="/wiki/Giuseppe_Mazzini" title="Giuseppe Mazzini">Mazzini</a> • <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Negri" title="Antonio Negri">Negri</a> • <a href="/wiki/Robert_Owen" title="Robert Owen">Owen</a> • <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Paine" title="Thomas Paine">Paine</a> <a href="/wiki/Richard_Rorty" title="Richard Rorty">Rorty</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau" title="Jean-Jacques Rousseau">Rousseau</a> • <a href="/wiki/Bertrand_Russell" title="Bertrand Russell">Russell</a> • <a href="/wiki/Henri_de_Saint-Simon" title="Henri de Saint-Simon">Saint-Simon</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre" title="Jean-Paul Sartre">Sartre</a> • <a href="/wiki/B._F._Skinner" title="B. F. Skinner">Skinner</a> • <a href="/wiki/Georges_Sorel" title="Georges Sorel">Sorel</a> • <a href="/wiki/Leon_Trotsky" title="Leon Trotsky">Trotsky</a> • <a href="/wiki/Michael_Walzer" title="Michael Walzer">Walzer</a> • <a href="/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping" title="Deng Xiaoping">Deng</a> • <a href="/wiki/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek" title="Slavoj Žižek">Žižek</a> </td></tr></tbody></table>    </div><noscript><img src="https://auth.wikimedia.org/loginwiki/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&oldid=3692780">https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&oldid=3692780</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Humanists" title="Category:Humanists">Humanists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Philosophers_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Philosophers from the Netherlands">Philosophers from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Historians_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Historians from the Netherlands">Historians from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Theologians" title="Category:Theologians">Theologians</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Roman_Catholic_priests" title="Category:Roman Catholic priests">Roman Catholic priests</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Essayists_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Essayists from the Netherlands">Essayists from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Non-fiction_authors_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Non-fiction authors from the Netherlands">Non-fiction authors from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Translators_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Translators from the Netherlands">Translators from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Satirists" title="Category:Satirists">Satirists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Educators_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Educators from the Netherlands">Educators from the Netherlands</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Latin_authors" title="Category:Latin authors">Latin authors</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:1466_births" title="Category:1466 births">1466 births</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:1536_deaths" title="Category:1536 deaths">1536 deaths</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Catholics_from_the_Netherlands" title="Category:Catholics from the Netherlands">Catholics from the Netherlands</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 28 March 2025, at 04:55.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a class="external text" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a class="external text" href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy Policy.</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:About">About Wikiquote</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikiquote:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikiquote.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Desiderius_Erasmus&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://www.wikimedia.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia.svg" width="25" height="25" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" lang="en" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" width="88" height="31"><img src="/w/resources/assets/mediawiki_compact.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" lang="en" width="25" height="25" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-header-container vector-sticky-header-container"> <div id="vector-sticky-header" class="vector-sticky-header"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-start"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-start vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" aria-hidden="true"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-sticky-header-search-toggle" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.vector-sticky-search-form.icon"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </button> </div> <div role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box"> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="vector-sticky-search-form" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikiquote"> <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-sticky-header-toc vector-sticky-header-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-sticky-header-toc-label" for="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar-primary" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiderius Erasmus</span></div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-end" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icons"> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-talk-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="talk-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbles mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbles"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-subject-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="subject-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-article mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-article"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-history-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="history-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-history mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-history"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only mw-watchlink" id="ca-watchstar-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="watch-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-star mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-star"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="wikitext-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikiText mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-wikiText"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-ve-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-edit mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-edit"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-viewsource-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-protected-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-editLock mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-editLock"></span> <span></span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-buttons"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet mw-interlanguage-selector" id="p-lang-btn-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>34 languages</span> </button> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive" id="ca-addsection-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="addsection-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbleAdd-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbleAdd-progressive"></span> <span>Add topic</span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-end"> <div class="vector-user-links"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mw-portlet mw-portlet-dock-bottom emptyPortlet" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul> </ul> </div> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-5c6f46dcf-82d49","wgBackendResponseTime":105,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.068","walltime":"0.104","ppvisitednodes":{"value":168,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":7944,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":173,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":5,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":0,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 12.938 1 -total"," 23.32% 3.017 1 Template:Wikipedia"," 19.35% 2.504 1 Template:Social_and_political_philosophers"," 14.41% 1.864 1 Template:Main"," 13.68% 1.770 1 Template:Misattributed_begin"," 12.54% 1.623 1 Template:Gutenberg_author"," 11.38% 1.473 1 Template:Misattributed_end"," 10.81% 1.399 1 Template:Sisterproject"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-ext.eqiad.main-5878cb7989-qwbl7","timestamp":"20250328045544","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Desiderius Erasmus","url":"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/Desiderius_Erasmus","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q43499","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q43499","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2004-07-27T15:49:47Z","dateModified":"2025-03-28T04:55:44Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/3\/30\/Holbein-erasmus.jpg","headline":"Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian"}</script> </body> </html>