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
Baruch Spinoza quotes about
mankind interest consulting
Statesman are suspected of plotting against mankind, rather than consulting their interests, and are esteemed more crafty than learned.
order mind function
. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.
nature law understanding
Nothing comes to pass in nature, which can be set down to a flaw therein; for nature is always the same and everywhere one and thesame in her efficiency and power of action; that is, nature's laws and ordinances whereby all things come to pass and change from one form to another, are everywhere and always; so that there should be one and the same method of understanding the nature of all things whatsoever, namely, through nature's universal laws and rules.
ideas order connections
The order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things.
melancholy deaf realism
One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to those who mourn, and neither good nor bad to the deaf.
revenge mean fighting
He who wishes to revenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. But he who endeavors to drive away hatred by means of love, fights with pleasure and confidence; he resists equally one or many men, and scarcely needs at all the help of fortune. Those whom he conquers yield joyfully
spring law luxury
He who seeks to regulate everything by law is more likely to arouse vices than to reform them. It is best to grant what cannot be abolished, even though it be in itself harmful. How many evils spring from luxury, envy, avarice, drunkenness and the like, yet these are tolerated because they cannot be prevented by legal enactments.
self foundation virtue
self-preservation is the primary and only foundation of virtue.
philosophical learning past
If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.
inspirational education understanding
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
government opinion crime
The most tyrannical of governments are those which make crimes of opinions, for everyone has an inalienable right to his thoughts.
wisdom philosophical effort
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.
life nature chance
Nothing in nature is by chance... Something appears to be chance only because of our lack of knowledge.
communication philosophical men
The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.