Desiderius Erasmus is often quoted as saying, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
The closest I have come to verifying this attribution or misattribution is here:
- Ad Graecas literas totum animum applicui; statimque, ut pecuniam acceptero, Graecos primum autores, deinde vestes emam.
- I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives, is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall buy clothes.
- Letter to Jacob Batt (12 April 1500); Collected Works of Erasmus Vol 1 (1974)
- Variant translation: When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.
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