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So likewise all this life of martall men,
What is it but a certaine kynde of stage plaie?
Where men come forthe disguised one in one arraie,
An other in an other eche plaiying his part.

— Erasmus Praise of Folie. Challoner's translation (1549)

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Life

More quotes by Erasmus

Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.

Letter to Christian Northoff (1497)

I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger.

Erasmus (1970)

In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

A speech comes alive only if it rises from the heart, not if it floats on the lips.

Ciceronianus (1528)

The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.

Adagia (1508)

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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Erasmus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.