 Erasmus earned his living as a teacher for only a few years, but education remained a lifelong interest and a central theme in his writings (see especially Margolin 1995). Erasmus expressed confidence in the potential of human beings for self-improvement, a corollary of his acceptance of free will. He believed in the preponderance of nurture over nature, given the power of the will. It was therefore the duty of parents and teachers to ensure that children fulfilled their potential and of adults to live up to it. “What is man’s real nature?” Erasmus asks.