Like the body the soul can be healthy, youthful, and so on. It can undergo pain, thirst, and hunger. In this physical life, that is, in the visible world, we avoid whatever would defile or deform the body; how much more, then, ought we to avoid that which would tarnish the soul?

— Erasmus The Handbook of the Militant Christian (1514)

More quotes by Erasmus

Letter to Christian Northoff (1497)

Erasmus (1970)

Ciceronianus (1528)

Adagia (1508)

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