# Erasmus's most famous sayings

'In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king', 'The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war' and life as a play from The Praise of Folly: Erasmus's most quoted lines, from the Adagia, his letters and his books.

- 36 votes · 12 items
- Nov 14, 2022 · Franco Rinaldi
- https://even.best/en/l/4696/erasmus-s-most-famous-sayings

## Top 12

1. **The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Adagia (1508).
2. **He gives twice who gives quickly.** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Adagia: 'Bis dat, qui cito dat'.
3. **In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Adagia: 'In regione caecorum rex est luscus'.
4. **War is sweet to those who have not tried it.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Adagia: 'Dulce bellum inexpertis', a Greek saying (Pindar) on which Erasmus wrote at length.
5. **This world, the whole of the planet called earth, is the common country of all who live and breathe upon it.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The Complaint of Peace (1517).
6. **For what is life but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The Praise of Folly (1511).
7. **You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Letter to Christian Northoff (1497).
8. **I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Attributed; quoted by György Faludy in his biography of Erasmus (1970).
9. **I have turned my whole attention to Greek. As soon as I get money, I shall buy Greek authors first, and then clothes.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Letter (1500), in Latin.
10. **No man is wise at all times, or is without his blind side.** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Colloquies, 'The Alchemist'.
11. **I am a lover of liberty. I will not and I cannot serve a party.** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni (1523).
12. **Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.** (-1 · ▲1 ▼2) — Letter to Christian Northoff (1497).

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