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

Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians.

Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.

Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower, when rank and running to seed.

War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.

Fools are without number.

Everyone knows that by far the happiest and universally enjoyable age of man is the first. What is there about babies which makes us hug and kiss and fondle them, so that even an enemy...

Nowadays the rage for possession has got to such a pitch that there is nothing in the realm of nature, whether sacred or profane, out of which profit cannot be squeezed

Concealed talent brings no reputation.

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

Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.

Fortune favors the audacious.

He who shuns the millstone, shuns the meal

It’s the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide.

Man is to man either a god or a wolf.

By burning Luther’s books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men’s minds of him

War is sweet to those who have not experienced it.

I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives, is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall buy clothes.

In short, no association or alliance can be happy or stable without me. People can’t long tolerate a ruler, nor can a master his servant, a maid her mistress, a teacher his pupil, a friend...

Nothing is so foolish, they say, as for a man to stand for office and woo the crowd to win its vote, buy its support with presents, court the applause of all those fools and...

What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.

When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.

A good prince will tax as lightly as possible those commodities which are used by the poorest members of society: grain, bread, beer, wine, clothing, and all other staples without which human life could not...

Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering.

For them it’s out-of-date and outmoded to perform miracles; teaching the people is too like hard work, interpreting the holy scriptures is for schoolmen and praying is a waste of time; to shed tears is...

To know nothing is the happiest life.

No one respects a talent that is concealed.

Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own...

What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato’s cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don’t know what they miss, and...

To know nothing is the happiest life