The Wisdom of Desiderius Erasmus: 150 Timeless Quotes

Patrick WrightJuly 9, 2025

The Wisdom of Desiderius Erasmus: 150 Timeless Quotes

Introduction

Desiderius Erasmus, a renowned Dutch philosopher and humanist, was one of the most influential scholars of the Renaissance. Known for his wit, intellect, and deep understanding of human nature, Erasmus left behind a rich legacy of writings and thoughts that continue to inspire and provoke thought. His work traverses a wide array of themes, including wisdom, folly, human nature, and the pursuit of knowledge. In this article, we explore 150 of Erasmus's most profound quotes, categorized into thematic sections to offer insight into his enduring wisdom.

Table of Contents

  1. Wisdom and Knowledge
  2. Human Nature and Folly
  3. War and Peace
  4. Religion and Faith
  5. Life and Happiness
  6. Learning and Education
  7. Leadership and Power
  8. Miscellaneous Insights
  9. Conclusion

1. Wisdom and Knowledge

Erasmus believed in the transformative power of knowledge and the importance of wisdom in human life.

"The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The desire to write grows with writing." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Prevention is better than cure." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Bidden or unbidden, God is present." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I'm not mistaken, and I'll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men." - Desiderius Erasmus

"There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Man is to man either a god or a wolf." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Fortune favors the audacious." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth." - Desiderius Erasmus

"No one respects a talent that is concealed." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It is wisdom in prosperity, when all is as thou wouldn't have it, to fear and suspect the worst." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The chief element of happiness is this: to want to be what you are." - Desiderius Erasmus

2. Human Nature and Folly

Erasmus had a keen insight into the follies of human nature and often used satire to convey his observations.

"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." - Desiderius Erasmus

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." - Desiderius Erasmus

"He who doesn't sin, is the greatest sinner of all." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Nothing is as peevish and pedantic as men's judgments of one another." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The highest form of bliss is living with a certain degree of folly." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Fools are without number." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Man's mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Eagles don't catch flies." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Many times what cannot be refuted by arguments can be parried by laughter." - Desiderius Erasmus

"By identifying the new learning with heresy, you make orthodoxy synonymous with ignorance." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Given a choice between a folly and a sacrament, one should always choose the folly—because we know a sacrament will not bring us closer to god and there’s always the chance that a folly will." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Tis an easier matter to raise the devil than to lay him." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Invoked or not invoked, the god is present." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Humility is truth." - Desiderius Erasmus

"He who shuns the millstone, shuns the meal." - Desiderius Erasmus

3. War and Peace

Erasmus was a staunch advocate for peace, often criticizing the senselessness of war.

"War is sweet to those who have not experienced it." - Desiderius Erasmus

"We being satiate with continual wars, let the desire of peace a little move us." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Nothing doth worse become a man (I will not say a Christian man) than war." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war." - Desiderius Erasmus

"War is delightful to those who don't know it." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Dulce bellum inexpertis. - War is lovely for those who know nothing about it." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Scarcely is there any peace so unjust that it is better than even the fairest war." - Desiderius Erasmus

"War is sweet to those who haven’t tasted it. Dulce bellum inexpertis." - Desiderius Erasmus

"What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The majority of the common people loathe war and pray for peace; only a handful of individuals, whose evil joys depend on general misery, desire war." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Luther was guilty of two great crimes - he struck the Pope in his crown, and the monks in their belly." - Desiderius Erasmus

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Jupiter, not wanting man's life to be wholly gloomy and grim, has bestowed far more passion than reason -- you could reckon the ration as twenty-four to one." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

4. Religion and Faith

Erasmus's work often delved into the complexities of religion and faith, advocating for a more personal and thoughtful approach to spirituality.

"Moreover God hath ordained man in this world, as it were, the very image of himself, to the intent, that he, as it were a god on earth, should provide for the wealth of all creatures." - Desiderius Erasmus

"By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that Carpenter can mankind be remade." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Sacred scripture is of course the basic authority for everything; yet I sometimes run across ancient sayings or pagan writings - even the poets - so purely and reverently and admirably expressed that I can't help believing the author's hearts were moved by some divine power." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower, when rank and running to seed." - Desiderius Erasmus

"I put up with this church, in the hope that one day it will become better, just as it is constrained to put up with me in the hope that I will become better." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

"The wedlocks of minds will be greater than that of bodies." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Our determination to imitate Christ should be such that we have no time for other matters." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Man is to man either a god or a wolf." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Apothegms are in history, the same as pearls in the sand, or gold in the mine." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Nature, more 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

"Do not get excited over the noise you have made." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Eagles don’t catch flies." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be." - Desiderius Erasmus

5. Life and Happiness

Erasmus often pondered the nature of happiness and the human condition, offering timeless insights.

"Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Your library is your paradise." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is." - Desiderius Erasmus

"No party is any fun unless seasoned with folly." - Desiderius Erasmus

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It is a greater advantage to be honestly educated than honorably born." - Desiderius Erasmus

"To know nothing is the happiest life." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Young bodies are like tender plants, which grow and become hardened to whatever shape you've trained them." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Frugality is a handsome income." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Love that has nothing but beauty to keep it in good health is short-lived." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

"Great abundance of riches cannot be gathered and kept by any man without sin." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I’m not mistaken, and I’ll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men." - Desiderius Erasmus

"By burning Luther’s books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men’s minds of him." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Time takes away the grief of men." - Desiderius Erasmus

6. Learning and Education

Erasmus placed a high value on learning and the pursuit of knowledge, often advocating for education as a means to better society.

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in." - Desiderius Erasmus

"You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

"Read first the best books. The important thing for you is not how much you know, but the quality of what you know." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself." - Desiderius Erasmus

"They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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." - Desiderius Erasmus

"I consider as lovers of books 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." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Ask a wise man to dinner and he'll upset everyone by his gloomy silence or tiresome questions." - Desiderius Erasmus

"They are looking in utter darkness for that which has no existence whatsoever." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay to antiquity its due reverence." - Desiderius Erasmus

"In short, no association or alliance can be happy or stable without me." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Now what else is the whole life of mortals, but a sort of comedy in which the various actors, disguised by various costumes and masks, walk on and play each ones part until the manager walks them off the stage?" - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

7. Leadership and Power

Erasmus's thoughts on leadership and power often reflect his belief in the moral responsibility of those in positions of authority.

"A good prince will tax as lightly as possible those commodities which are used by the poorest members of society: grain, bread, beer, wine, clothing, and all other staples without which human life could not exist." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people's advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Providence has decreed that those common acquisitions, money, gems, plate, noble mansions, and dominion, should be sometimes bestowed on the indolent and unworthy." - Desiderius Erasmus

"What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato's cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don't know what they miss, and the philosopher who has emerged from the cave and sees the real things?" - Desiderius Erasmus

"So our student will flit like a busy bee through the entire garden of literature, light on every blossom, collect a little nectar from each, and carry it to his hive..." - Desiderius Erasmus

"It's the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Be careful not to be the first to put your hands in the dish." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but it isn't -it's human." - Desiderius Erasmus

"By burning Luther's books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men's minds of him." - Desiderius Erasmus

"A good portion of speaking will consist in knowing how to lie." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Do not put chewed bones back on plates. Instead, throw them on the floor for the dog." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be." - Desiderius Erasmus

"They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Young bodies are like tender plants, which grow and become hardened to whatever shape you've trained them." - Desiderius Erasmus

8. Miscellaneous Insights

Erasmus's diverse thoughts extend beyond specific themes, offering insights into various facets of life.

"Next, let no one be so fond as to imagine, that I should so far stint my invention to the method of other pleaders, as first to define, and then divide my subject, i.e., myself." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Be careful not to be the first to put your hands in the dish." - Desiderius Erasmus

"The Jewish usurers are fast-rooted even in the smallest villages." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Concealed talent brings no reputation." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Time takes away the grief of men." - Desiderius Erasmus

"What passes out of one's mouth passes into a hundred ears. It is a great misfortune not to have sense enough to speak well." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Modern church music is so constructed that the congregation cannot hear one distinct word." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Retain the wind by compressing the belly." - Desiderius Erasmus

"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

"As an example of just how useless these philosophers are for any practice in life there is Socrates himself." - Desiderius Erasmus

"In short, no association or alliance can be happy or stable without me." - Desiderius Erasmus

"You'll see certain Pythagorean whose belief in communism of property goes to such lengths that they pick up anything lying about unguarded, and make off with it without a qualm of conscience as if it had come to them by law." - Desiderius Erasmus

"...it is a sneaking piece of cowardice for authors to put feigned names to their works." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians." - Desiderius Erasmus

"Read first the best books. The important thing for you is not how much you know, but the quality of what you know." - Desiderius Erasmus

Conclusion

Desiderius Erasmus's quotes encapsulate the timeless nature of his thoughts and observations. His wisdom spans multiple themes, from human nature and folly to the pursuit of knowledge and peace. Through his writings, Erasmus challenges us to reflect on our lives, question societal norms, and strive for a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. His legacy endures, inviting us to ponder the enduring truths he so eloquently expressed centuries ago.

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This article is inspired by the profound insights of Desiderius Erasmus, whose legacy continues to illuminate and inspire across the ages.

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