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What greater thing do they wish in their whole lives than that they may please the man? For to what other purpose are all those dresses, washes, baths, slops, perfumes, and those several little tricks of setting their faces, painting their eyebrows, and smoothing their skins? And now tell me, what higher letters of recommendation have they to men than this folly?

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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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The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave.

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There is a Lady sweet and kind,
Was never face so pleased my mind;
I did but see her passing by,
And yet I love her till I die.

Thomas Ford

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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.