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Why did Erasmus collect Greek and Latin proverbs in Adagia?

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Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, shown in dark robes and cap, writing with a quill at a desk, after Quinten Massijs, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. — Erasmus Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus.

Erasmus began collecting Greek and Latin proverbs in his Adagia during his time in Paris (1497–1500) as a practical aid for students to master elegant Latin usage.1

As a humanist scholar, Erasmus sought to promote the study of classical antiquity, which he believed would have a beneficent effect on the mind and help reform society through education. By expanding the Adagia into a massive, annotated collection of over 3,000 entries while working at the printing house of Aldus Manutius in Venice, he transformed the work into a monument of erudition.2

Ultimately, the collection served as a tool for his broader mission: to replace the "disputatious temper" of Scholastic logic with the study of classical and Christian antiquity, thereby fostering a more peaceful and social disposition among his readers.2