Praise of Folly and Letter to Maarten Van Dorp

by Erasmo de Roterdã, Erasmo da Rotterdam, Erasmus, et al.

Book Overview

Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466-1536) is one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance humanist movement, which abandoned medieval pieties in favour of a rich new vision of the individual's potential. Praise of Folly, written to amuse his friend Sir Thomas More, is Erasmus's best-known work. Its dazzling mixture of fantasy and satire is narrated by a personification of Folly, dressed as a jester, who celebrates youth, pleasure, drunkenness and sexual...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140446087
• ISBN13: 9780140446081
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

One of the best books of Literary Renaissance

In Praise of Folly (Encomiun Moriae in Latin) was written in 1509 by the Dutchman Erasmus of Rotterdam when he was guest to his English famous friend Thomas More,or Morus if you prefer, the author of the celebrated book Utopia. Given internal religious strife in Europe, and England was in no exception mood, these were pretty much dangerous times and many heads rolled and were to roll, More"s included, due to the persecution by Henry VIII. Whatever was to be said about the nettlesome religious matter had to be done with extrema caution in order to avoid the perilous verdicts of the Holy Tribunal. Along with Thomas More, Desiderius Erasmus was one of the most important representatives of the Renaissance literary movement in northern Europe and what was casually presented by Erasmus as a booklet inspired by a casual play of words with the surname More (which is almost equal to Moriae, madness in Greek), was in fact an attempt to salvage what should be rescued of the Classical Greek Antiquity in Erasmus' opinionated argument and incorporated in the Christian thought of the time. Beneath an almost non-descript façade was an issue of utmost significance to the evolution of the so-called Natural Sciences, that were to benefit from advances of recent discoveries in Physics, Chemistry and later on Biology, but which were hindered to evolve by the so-called aristotelian taint inherited by the Scholastic medieveal tradition so dear to the traditionalist Catholic Church, a task difficult in itself but which Erasmus easily outdone with a satyrical style that offended no one, preserving all the respect to the Church hierarchy and its dogmas and, most importantly, the figure of Jesus Christ.The book is in fact a small one but the reader is much rewarded by the richness of its content, where the author takes him by his hands and strolls with him trough ancient Greek and Roman mithology in a verbose prose at the same time easy, vigorous and stimulating, where one is impressed by the author's astounding erudiction, as if he was a northern true inheritor of the Tuscan Dante Aligheri (the Divine Comedy) in this purpose. This is certainly one of the best literary works of late Renaissance and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

...and that's the truth

A full-front blast against the stupidities of us arrogant humans, with a crazy satirical sense of humor. Erasmus reminds us that we have no freakin' idea why we are here and who we are, so we better be humble and respect each other. "In Praise of Folly" was written during a horse travel from Rome to London, as a gift to Erasmus' close friend Thomas More, who was to die under the axe by orders of his former boss Henry VIII, exactly the kind of lunatic Erasmus pokes fun at in this book.Erasmus strips naked the vanities of politicians, intellectuals, theologians, poets, monks, priests, Popes, magicians, etc. but the most surprising thing about this book first published in 1511 is its relevance to today's world. It even seems more relevant to our times than to his times!! Think about the celebrity system, when people read about soap-opera "actors'" opinions on God, politics and the environment, etc.Very funny, very honest, very brave. Just imagine, in those times, stating the stupidity and sinfulness of the Pope no less. Erasmus wrote an extremely refreshing, smart, witty and wise book. If more people read it, the world would be a little less insufferable and more enjoyable. Please don't pay any attention to its age or to its classical references. The marrow of the book is just what you need to relax and see the world like it really is. In case you've ever read a self-help or "excellence" book, you'll never do it again: you'll be laughing your brain out at how shallow and stupid they are. Read it now.

Ah, The Good Life!

Searching for happiness is a full-time job for me and it seems that almost 500 years ago--Erasmus wrote this book in 1511--others were looking for it too. They called it The Good Life ("summum bonum") then, and the ship of fools that were searching for it had completely booked its passage. Today, it's the same.Erasmus doesn't let up. He catalogs every type of fool, every kind of folly, and has room to spare. Reading this funny, I mean, profound book, has given me a new respect for those idiotic life decisions I have made. Looking back over the grand scheme of it all...yikes! I can't believe I did that, said that, acted like that! I highly recommend this satire for teachers, politicians, priests, professors, administrators, managers, Rotarians, poets, grave diggers, and anyone else tempted toward hypocrisy (and if you think you aren't tempted, I mean you most of all).Reading this book can make you human again. And that is the first step toward the good life.

Understanding Erasmus

I managed to stumble across Erasmus while reading William Manchester's "A World Lit Only By Fire", and was beyond intrigued by such a character as described that I had never even heard about. Of course, Erasmus had been mentioned in my presence often, but never in a direct context. So I pick up this book, hoping to find out what the deal was and what I was missing.My entire view of the middle ages changed practically overnight. Do not miss the fact, people: Erasmus was THE deal. Erasmus makes Luther look like a limp little hothead. Erasmus is Jim Carrey to Voltaire's Carrot Top. Erasmus drows the candle of Aristophanes with a roaring torch. The ultimate critic, the ultimate wit, and the ultimate reason in an age of insanity. Without this fantastic book I may have passed a second 18 years without Erasmus as an inspiration. The pure genius and subtlety of truly the most underappreciated scholar of all time is laid out glowingly. Why did I waste my time with "Mandrake" and "Candide" when "In Praise of Folly" does the same job a thousand times better? Why on earth do we pay attention to Martin Luther, the most incompetant and ridiculous "reformer" of all time, when Erasmus was doing everything twice as good at exactly the same time?Get this book, people. Understand Erasmus and understand a wisdom that defied an age of stupidity.

The First Will be Last... and the Last?

"Folly speaks: Whatever is generally said of me by mortal men, and I'm quite well aware that Folly is in poor repute even amongst the greatest fools, still, I am the one - and indeed the only one - whose divine powers can gladden the hearts of gods and men." So begins the greatest book written in the long convoluted history of man... If you've ever thought you screwed up somewhere or your whole life was one giant slip on the banana peel read this book to discover the inner idiot savant within... Proof enough that the world is filled with fools is the fact that I am the first one to review this ultimate treatise on the human condition... War and Peace, The Bible, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Ulysses, The Communist Manifesto, Plato, Socrates and especially all those who lay special claim to be called personifications of Wisdom are crushed under the heals of Folly... [1] "For great orators must spend time preparing long speeches and even then find it difficult to succeed in banishing care and trouble from your minds, but I've done this at once-and simply by my looks." Everything you once thought of as ignoble will be turned upside down and made into a virtue... drunkenness, ignorance, self-love, flattery, forgetfulness, idleness, pleasure, madness, sensuality, revelry and sound sleep... [9] "This, then, is my household which serves me loyally in bringing the whole world under my sway, so that even great rulers have to bow to my rule." This book is the perfect antidote to all those pointless self help books, psychotherapies and/or Chicken Soup-Anthony Robbins unlimited power tapes... Throw out everything you know or think you know... Everything you know is wrong... Learn what great advantages Folly brings to gods and men alike, and how far her divinity extends... [35] "Those who strive after wisdom are the furthest from happiness; they are in fact doubly stupid simply because they ignore the fact that they were born men... they try to adopt the life of the immortal gods... with the sciences for their engines of war... Heavens above, doesn't the happiest group of people comprise those popularly called idiots, fools, nitwits, simpletons?.. All splendid names according to my way of thinking." This book was written on the back of a horse for no particular reason five hundred years ago... Buy it Now! ..