Desiderio Erasmus of Rotterdam was one of the most famous and influential scientists in Europe. In the annals of classical culture, Erasmus can be considered an intermediate stage between the humanists of the Latin Renaissance and the scholars of the era of Greek culture, between Angelo Poliziano and Giuseppe Scaligero. Here is a compilation of Desiderius Erasmus Quotes.
Through his relationships with scholars and students, his published satires on existing institutions and methods, and in particular his work in editing and translating Greek and Latin authors, he gave a strong impetus to the study of the classics.
Desiderius Erasmus Short Biography
To support his classical studies, he began accepting students; From this period (1497-1500) are the first versions of these auxiliaries for graceful Latin, including colloquia and adagia, soon to be used in humanistic schools throughout Europe. The method of schooling then prevailing in Paris was so disgusting to him that he spent most of his time traveling through France and the Netherlands, receiving friendly help from time to time; he was also in Orleans for some time, where he worked on his collection of proverbs, the later Adagia.
It was only after his subsequent training in Paris and his exposure to the humanists in England that Erasmus began his path to intellectual excellence. As the first of the German humanists, he worked steadily and effectively to disseminate new knowledge, which gave its content and spirit to the education of the Renaissance.
In 1492, the bishop ordained him a Catholic clergy, although he never held an active clergy, and throughout his life frequently attacked the monasticism of the time and the excesses of the church as a whole. Erasmus, however, marked his own legacy, and his life’s work was passed on to his friend after his death, the Protestant humanist-turned-Protestant Sebastian Castellio, who he The schisms and divisions of Christianity were restored into Catholic, Anabaptist, and Protestant branches.
He was a staunch critic of church abuses, a defender of humanism, and a leading exponent of biblical criticism that Protestants cite and Catholics oppose, but he himself remained a Catholic who for years distanced himself from Protestant theology. His main activity was to write letters to the leading politicians, humanists, printers, and theologians in the first three and a half years of the sixteenth century.
“The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.”
“Fortune favors the audacious.”
“War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.”
“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”
“Great abundance of riches cannot be gathered and kept by any man without sin.”
“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”
“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.”
“Whoever among you thinks himself wise must become a fool to be truly wise”
“Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.”
“It becomes a matter to be put to the test of battle, when someone makes a conjunction of a word which belongs in the bailiwick of the adverbs.”
“Great eagerness in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, or honor, cannot exist without sin.”
“No one respects a talent that is concealed.”
“Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering.”
“Bidden or unbidden, God is present.”
“War is sweet to those who have not experienced it.”
“Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.”
“The desire to write grows with writing.;”
“At last concluded that no creature was more miserable than man, for that all other creatures are content with those bounds that nature set them, only man endeavors to exceed them.”
“Surely there is nothing so ungracious, nor nothing so cruel, but men will hold therewith, if it be once approved by custom.”
“Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known.”
“I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of insanity. The only difference is one of degree.”
“To know nothing is the happiest life.”
“For what that passes among mortals everywhere is not full of folly, done be fools in the presence of fools?”