Heaven grant that the burden you carry may have as easy an exit as it had an entrance. Prayer To A Pregnant Woman Desiderius Erasmus More Quotes by Desiderius Erasmus More Quotes From Desiderius Erasmus Out of all those centuries the Greeks can count seven sages at the most, and if anyone looks at them more closely I swear he'll not find so much as a half-wise man or even a third of a wise man among them. Desiderius Erasmus greek wise men War is delightful for those who don't know it Desiderius Erasmus delightful military war Time takes away the grief of men. Desiderius Erasmus grief men 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. Desiderius Erasmus clothes greek attention Love that has nothing but beauty to keep it in good health is short-lived. Desiderius Erasmus short-lived good-health love Be careful not to be the first to put your hands in the dish. What you cannot hold in your hands you must put on your plate. Also it is a great breach of etiquette when your fingers are dirty and greasy, to bring them to your mouth in order to lick them, or to clean them on your jacket. It would be more decent to use the tablecloth. Desiderius Erasmus food hands dirty Fools are without number. Desiderius Erasmus fool numbers The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes. Desiderius Erasmus ignorant doctors powerful It hardly needs explaining at length, I think, how much authority or beauty is added to style by the timely use of proverbs. In the first place who does not see what dignity they confer on style by their antiquity alone?... And so to interweave adages deftly and appropriately is to make the language as a whole glitter with sparkles from Antiquity, please us with the colours of the art of rhetoric, gleam with jewel-like words of wisdom, and charm us with titbits of wit and humour. Desiderius Erasmus jewels art thinking Retain the wind by compressing the belly. Desiderius Erasmus belly wind Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known. Desiderius Erasmus obscure affair humans If you look at history you'll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict. Desiderius Erasmus power philosophy hands The opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be. Desiderius Erasmus atheism eye religion ...it is a sneaking piece of cowardice for authors to put feigned names to their works, as if, like bastards of their brain, they were afraid to own them. Desiderius Erasmus pieces names brain To know nothing is the happiest life. Desiderius Erasmus live-by inspire life Dulce bellum inexpertis. - War is lovely for those who know nothing about it. Desiderius Erasmus lovely knows war Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of another s. Desiderius Erasmus nature mother heart Besides, it happens (how, I cannot tell) that an idea launched like a javelin in proverbial form strikes with sharper point on the hearer's mind and leaves implanted barbs for meditation. Desiderius Erasmus meditation mind ideas 'Tis an easier matter to raise the devil than to lay him. Desiderius Erasmus easier devil matter The Jewish usurers are fast-rooted even in the smallest villages, and if they lend five gulden they require a security of six times as much. They charge interest, upon interest, and upon this again interest, so that the poor man loses everything that he owns. Desiderius Erasmus village six men
