Praise to the Foolish God

The Foolish God said: "If there is no stupidity in life, there will be no joy!"

Without the help of the Foolish God, who would be willing to tie himself up and let the reins of married life wrap around his neck, or find a woman who understands and is willing to find a man?

How can a child's life be happy without the seasoning of the Foolish God? How can the elderly live free from worries and worries?

In addition, fools don't know the rules in the world, so they dare not do anything. They don't know what danger is, so they have nothing to worry about. The sage has no ears to hear the affairs of the world, and only reads the books of the ancients, and learns some purely illusory things from the words of the ancients.

In addition, doctors, lawyers, artists, philosophers, popes, etc., all are blessed by the Foolish God. The whole world is the temple of the Foolish God, and our way of life and all customs are her gifts!

In this book, the Dutch theologian and humanist thinker Erasmus uses a humorous and satirical tone and the perspective of the "Foolish God" to conduct profound criticism and reflection on society, religion, politics and culture, revealing the sixteenth century The absurdity, hypocrisy and stupidity of the century aroused great repercussions at the time and was considered one of the classics of Renaissance literature, deeply influencing European culture.

The core of the work is the character of the "Foolish God". She is depicted as a laughing, scolding and confident goddess who uses a first-person speech to tell why "foolishness" is the greatest spirit in the world and why everything is caused by "foolishness". The dominance of stupidity, and why people need to be "stupid" to be happy. Through her perspective, the author uses humorous writing to point out all the absurdities in the world, and exposes the greed of the church, the hypocrisy of politicians, and the arrogance of scholars. While exposing their hypocrisy and self-righteousness, he also questions the values ​​and morality of the time. standard.

The Foolish God said: "No matter where I am, everyone has me in their heart.
I am revealed in their customs and reflected in their way of life. "

"Praise to the Foolish God" became very popular after its publication and was translated into English, German, French, Czech and other versions. It is said that the number of pirated copies has reached hundreds of thousands of copies. Even important figures in the Vatican, including Pope Leo X and Bishop Francisco Jimenez, found it interesting, surprising even Erasmus himself. "Praise to the Foolish God" not only influenced the teaching of rhetoric in the late sixteenth century, but the criticism of the Holy See in the book also aroused the response of clergy in many parts of Europe, igniting the spark of the Protestant Reformation. Later generations commented: "The egg was created by Ira Smus gave birth to it, Martin Luther only hatched it."

"Erasmus was the first 'European', the first to fight for peace and the most outstanding defender of humanism and spiritual ideals."
——Austrian writer Stefan Zweig

"No other work can equal the joy and joy of precise word juggling in Erasmus's Hymn to the Fool... Like all great thinkers, Erasmus has always managed to keep pace with the times." "Praise to the Foolish God" cheerfully and humorously reveals to readers the ingenuity and complexity of Renaissance academic thought."
——The New York Times

"A masterpiece full of humour, wit and irony... something that no one else can offer the world."
——Dutch historian Johan Huizinga