5 h 1 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the fool in the pulpit sees more clearly than the scholars, priests and kings she mocks?
In Desiderius Erasmus’s short satire In Praise of Folly, a goddess steps before a crowd to celebrate herself. Folly is boastful, funny and sharp. People may curse her, she says, but their faces brighten when she appears. Her claim is bold: without her, human life would hardly be worth living.
Her speech moves from the foolishness of childhood to the self-love and flattery that hold society together. Then her gaze sharpens. Scholars quarrel over tiny points of Latin. Monks prize rules and robes while forgetting charity. Through Folly’s praise of herself, Erasmus invites you to question what passes for wisdom.
What you’ll discover
- A speaker without shame Meet a goddess who praises herself because she trusts nobody else to do it properly.
- The uses of self-love Follow Folly’s argument that liking ourselves helps us please others and act well.
- Learning under a sharp gaze Watch proud grammarians turn small disputes over Latin into reasons to feel like kings.
- Pride beneath the robes Encounter a pointed critique of religious rules and ritual that leave charity behind.
- Laughter with a serious edge Look beneath the jokes to explore human vanity and the uneasy boundary between wisdom and foolishness.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy wit, satire and the history of ideas, and for anyone curious about the Renaissance and the road to the Reformation.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Folly praises herself and her parentage
- Life runs on folly from cradle to grave
- Self-love and flattery hold society together
- Learned people are among the greatest fools
- Monks, priests and princes fall under her gaze
- The wise fool and the lasting reach of the book
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Éloge de la Folie
by Érasme · 1511
The goddess Folly climbs into a pulpit and mocks scholars, priests and kings who think they are wise.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Folly praises herself and her parentage
Folly opens by saying that nobody else will praise her properly, so she will do it herself. She notes that people curse her in private, yet the moment she appears, every face brightens. Her speech, she says, is not carefully prepared like a lecturer's. It pours out as it comes, and that is exactly how a fool should speak.
She then gives her family tree. Her father is Plutus, the god of wealth, who rules over gods and men. Her mother is Youth, a nymph. Folly was born on the Islands of the Blest, and she was nursed by Drunkenness and Ignorance, two nymphs who shaped her character.
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What is In Praise of Folly about?
It is a satire in which the goddess Folly gives a speech praising herself. She argues that human happiness depends on foolishness, then mocks scholars, priests, monks and rulers, and finally describes a Christian folly that the world does not understand.
Why is it called Moriae Encomium?
That is the Latin title. Moria is the Greek word for folly, and encomium means a formal praise. It also puns on the name of Erasmus's friend Thomas More, to whom the book is dedicated.
When was In Praise of Folly written and published?
Erasmus wrote it in 1509, during a stay in England at the home of Thomas More, and it was first printed in Paris in 1511. It then went through many editions across Europe.
The author
Desiderius Erasmus
1466–1536 · Dutch Renaissance humanist and theologian
Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian from Rotterdam. He lived in several European countries, including England and Switzerland. He wrote In Praise of Folly in 1509 and published a Greek edition of the New Testament in 1516. He died in Basel in 1536.
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