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Erasmus is one of the best-known scholars in the whole world. Numerous scholars and academics have devoted their careers to his ideas, his name is used, with or without justification, as a status emblem all over the world, his ideas and convictions are astonishingly modern, and his language has excellently withstood the ravages of time. His name is associated with humanism, peace and tolerance, most people have heard of The Praise of Folly and some may remember from their history lessons that Erasmus and Luther weren't quite the best of friends. The people who have actually read some of his work, who can place him in time and space, who are aware of his influence and who understand how contemporary much of his thinking still is, are in a small, far too small minority.
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