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
mankind interest consulting
Statesman are suspected of plotting against mankind, rather than consulting their interests, and are esteemed more crafty than learned.
philosophical pride men
Pride is pleasure arising from a man's thinking too highly of himself.
philosophical causes pantheism
God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things.
gratitude attitude two-sides
Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear. [They are the two sides of a coin, so learning how to manage fear through learning, understanding, rationality, controlled imagination, preparation, mental focus (including distraction) and a gratitude attitude is very helpful.]
wise men atheism
The proper study of a wise man is not how to die but how to live.
philosophical passion emotion
I can control my passions and emotions if I can understand their nature
self foundation virtue
self-preservation is the primary and only foundation of virtue.
men desire wish
Men who are ruled by reason desire nothing for themselves which they would not wish for all mankind.
running ignorance way
[Believers] are but triflers who, when they cannot explain a thing, run back to the will of God; this is, truly, a ridiculous way of expressing ignorance.
believe circles triangles
I believe that a triangle, if it could speak, would say that God is eminently triangular, and a circle that the divine nature is eminently circular; and thus would every one ascribe his own attributes to God.
desire
Desire nothing for yourself, which you do not desire for others.
communication law evil
In the state of nature, wrong-doing is impossible; or, if anyone does wrong, it is to himself, not to another. For no one by the law of nature is bound to please another, unless he chooses, nor to hold anything to be good or evil, but what he himself, according to his own temperament, pronounces to be so; and, to speak generally, nothing is forbidden by the law of nature, except what is beyond everyone's power.
life love-is hatred
Hatred which is completely vanquished by love passes into love: and love is thereupon greater than if hatred had not preceded it...
life believe return
If anyone conceives that he is loved by another, and believes that he has given no cause for such love, he will love that other in return.