Book Description

Excerpt from The Colloquies of Desiderius Erasmus, Vol. 2: Concerning Men Manners and Things The Argument This Colloquy sets forth the Disposition and Nature of a Liar, who seems to be born to lie for crafty Gain. A Liar is a Thief. Gain got by Lying, is baser than that which is got by a Tax upon Urine. An egregious Method of deceiving is laid open. Cheating Tradesmen live better than honest ones. Philetymus and Pseudocheus Phil. From what Fountain does this Flood of Lies flow? Pseud. From whence do Spiders Webs proceed? Phil. Then it is not the Product of Art, but of Nature. Pseud, The seeds indeed proceed from Nature; but Art and use have enlarg'd the Faculty. Phil. Why, are you not asham'd of it? Pseud. No more than a Cuckow is of her Singing. Phil. But you can alter your Note upon every Occasion. The Tongue of Man was given him to speak the Truth. Pseud. Ay, to speak those Things that tend to his Profit: The Truth is not to be spoken at all Times. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.