How can life as a Christian succeed in a world full of superficialities, blind busyness, and inner conflicts such as one's own laziness? Is it dominated by passions and failures? Erasmus of Rotterdam provides effective weapons against the everyday small battles, which are often fought not against others but within oneself, in this classic: self-knowledge, reflection on the essentials, prayer, and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.

The translation by Dr. phil. Hubert Schiel (1898–1983) has been thoroughly reviewed and revised for this new edition.