PhilosophersÉrasme de Rotterdam

Érasme de Rotterdam

In Praise of Folly: learning against fanaticism.

Humanismv. 1466 – 1536 NetherlandsChristian humanistPhilologist (editor of the Greek New Testament)SatiristThinker of peace
adeo non delector assertionibus, ut facile in Scepticorum sententiam pedibus discessurus sim
I take so little pleasure in assertions that I would readily side with the sceptics (wherever Scripture and the Church allow).
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Ni Philosophus fueris, Princeps esse non potes, Tyrannus potes.
Unless you are a philosopher, you cannot be a prince; a tyrant, yes.
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Vix ulla tam iniqua pax, quin bello vel aequissimo sit potior.
There is scarcely any peace so unjust that it is not better than the justest war. Peace is speaking.
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Sed falli, inquiunt, miserum est; imo non falli, miserrimum.
But, they say, it is wretched to be deceived. Far more wretched not to be! Folly is speaking.
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Misconceptions

Nuanced
With the Praise of Folly, Erasmus mocks religion.

Folly mocks monks, theologians and superstitions, not faith. The book ends by praising a Christian "folly" higher than the world's wisdom. In his letter to Thomas More, Erasmus says he wants trifles to lead to serious things. Some theologians nonetheless found it irreverent as early as 1514.

False
Erasmus was on Luther's side.

He shared Luther's criticism of the Church's abuses and was accused of preparing the Reformation. But he remained Catholic and, in 1524, attacked Luther on a central point: for him, Luther had ended up "cutting the throat" of free will.

Nuanced
Erasmus was an absolute pacifist.

He condemns almost all wars, above all between Christians. But Peace herself grants that if war cannot be avoided, it must be waged so that the harm falls on those who caused it. His phrase is "scarcely" any peace, not "no" peace.