Das Lob der Torheit

Moriae Encomium (this is the Latinized version of the Greek expression Morias Enkomion, under which the work became known and famous) literally translates to: Praise of Folly. Erasmus roughly drafted the text while crossing the Alps and then refined it at the home of his friend Thomas More. With biting irony and great wit, he presents something that should not be praised at all, allowing folly to appear as a person who delivers a defense of herself. In this way, with humor and sharpness, he exposes grievances: All appearances please people more than reality. Members of all classes are vain and arrogant, their wisdom is merely self-delusion. Thus, folly is one of the most powerful and esteemed figures of all. Not without pleasure, she praises her daughters Self-Love, Flattery, Forgetfulness, Laziness, and Lust, firmly asserting: "Every fool is happier the more abundant his madness is according to the opinion of folly, as long as he remains in that delusion which suits us." By holding up a mirror to the fools of his time, Erasmus's text, both amusing and bitterly ironic, retains a disturbingly relevant quality and exposes the follies of subsequent times – up to the present day.