Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinozawas a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy...
NationalityDutch
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth24 November 1632
way body anticipation
...The body is affected by the image of the thing, in the same way as if the thing were actually present.
men past anticipation
A man is as much affected pleasurably or painfully by the image of a thing past or future as by the image of a thing present.
soul mind body
The human mind cannot be absolutely destroyed along with the body, but something of it remains, which is eternal.
suffering emotion form
Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.
wise men hands
If the way which I have pointed out as leading to this result (i.e., power over the emotions by which the wise man surpasses the ignorant man) seems exceedingly hard, it may nevertheless be discovered. Needs must it be hard, since it is so seldom found. How would it be possible, if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labour be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
desire lines action
I shall consider human actions and desires in exactly the same manner, as though I were concerned with lines, planes and solids.
believe men people
Of all the things that are beyond my power, I value nothing more highly than to be allowed the honor of entering into bonds of friendship with people who sincerely love truth. For, of things beyond our power, I believe there is nothing in the world which we can love with tranquility except such men.
men desire tongue
Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.
intelligent miracle down-and
Anyone who seeks for the true causes of miracles, and strives to understand natural phenomena as an intelligent being, and not to gaze at them like a fool, is set down and denounced as an impious heretic.
practicals practical-life compelled
In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.
grateful men free-man
Only free men are thoroughly grateful one to another.
gratitude thinking quality
The terms good and bad indicate no positive quality in things regarded in themselves, but are merely modes of thinking or notions, which we form from the comparison of things one with another. Thus one and the same thing can be at the same time good, bad, and indifferent. For instance, music is good for him that is melancholy, bad for him that mourns; for him that is deaf; it is neither good nor bad.
sea fishing rivers
Big fish eat small fish with as much right as they have power.
no-fear no-hope
There is no fear without some hope, and no hope without some fear.