The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I'm not mistaken, and I'll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
War is sweet to those who haven't tasted it. Dulce bellum inexpertis.
Interpretation
What this quote means
War may seem appealing to those who have never experienced its true horrors.
This quote by Desiderius Erasmus highlights the naive romanticism often associated with war by those who do not know its true nature. It suggests that individuals who have never experienced the realities of battle may view it as glorious or sweet, while in reality, it is filled with suffering and devastation that can only be understood through direct experience.
Themes
WarSweetExperienceNaiveReality
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a debate about the romanticism of war in literature.
More from Desiderius Erasmus
All quotes βWhen I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
You'll see certain Pythagorean whose belief in communism of property goes to such lengths that they pick up anything lying about unguarded, and make off with it without a qualm of conscience as if it had come to them by law.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
[N]o party is any fun unless seasoned with folly.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
If you look at history you'll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
Fortune favours the audacious.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
Similar quotes
When violence becomes imbedded in a region, then this affects everything. It affects your dreams, your fantasies and relationships, and your religion becomes violent, too.
Karen ArmstrongRead
In a sense, a cyborg has no origin story in the Western sense β a βfinalβ irony since the cyborg is also the awful apocalyptic telos of the βWestβsβ escalating dominations of abstract individuation, an ultimate self untied at last from all dependency, a man in space.
Donna J. HarawayRead
In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another is put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.
Karl MarxRead
I wish I had never been born--there or anywhere else.
Thomas HardyRead
No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Oscar WildeRead
When we are kids, we imagine that to define ourselves or to find ourselves means charting your own individuality, making your own destiny, and actually running away from your parents and your home and what you grew up with. Of course, as the years go on, we come to find that we become our parents.
Pico IyerRead