So the one who despises words or can't read,

finds the essential in the engravings, he sees who he is, who he looks like or what he lacks.

I call this the Mirror of the Mad Men in which everyone sights themselves;

He who looks in the mirror of fools, knows who he is and what he looks like.

The one who does it honestly learns here that he should not take himself seriously,

Don't imagine having what he doesn't have, because no living person is perfect

And no one can rightly claim not to be a fool, but to be a wise man;

For he who dares to call himself mad, will soon be praised for his wisdom.

 

Jérôme Bosch" preface to the nave of the madmen " Basel 1494.

Quoted in the translation - E.Vandervoort Brant.2007