Erasmus

Famous quotes containing the word erasmus:

    Ask a wise man to dinner and he’ll upset everyone by his gloomy silence or tiresome questions. Invite him to a dance and you’ll have a camel prancing about. Haul him off to a public entertainment and his face will be enough to spoil the people’s entertainment.
    —Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)

    In short, no association or alliance can be happy or stable without me. People can’t long tolerate a ruler, nor can a master his servant, a maid her mistress, a teacher his pupil, a friend his friend nor a wife her husband, a landlord his tenant, a soldier his comrade nor a party-goer his companion, unless they sometimes have illusions about each other, make use of flattery, and have the sense to turn a blind eye and sweeten life for themselves with the honey of folly.
    —Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)

    Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.
    —Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)