Erasmus
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If there is one thing that the original Erasmus and I, his unworthy impersonator, have in common, it is that position of ineffably high regard in which we hold our lady, Folly. Folly is inexorably united with the human condition, and—I would avow—is one of its most important parts.
Unfortunately, it seems that many people, not just in our day but throughout history, have spent the greater quantity of their time in fabricating systems by which man can avoid Folly. Whether through the redistribution of wealth to those who had made up their minds to be rid of it in the first place, or the forcible imparting of peace by the supposed removal of the material causes of violence (in other words, try to buy a firearm in England), man often finds his attempts at avoiding Lady Folly merely casting him in to a darker pit. This sort of thinking is the worst kind of mistake and is unworthy of my gracious lady’s name.
The greatest problem with thoughts, and more importantly actions, like these is they forget that we, or at least our first parents, have bound ourselves to Folly. This is not to imply that our efforts should be written off as doomed, but is to imply that there is a doom writ for our efforts, a doom in the sense of a judgment. If God grants to us the freedom to act according to Folly, what lies in wait for the man who decides that God has been too liberal with His creation?
So, as I said, it is to Folly that most of my life is directed, whether in the classroom convincing my students that there is a difference between the words “good” and “well,” or in my down-time where I waste hours of my life in underground niches of conservative thought. Yet, I smile at my Folly, knowing it to be the happiest fault ever gifted to me.
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