Baruch Spinoza
Dutch · 1632–1677
Rationalist philosopher whose radical metaphysics of substance monism, determinism, and the identity of God with Nature made him one of the most original and controversial thinkers of the early modern period.
Wikipedia ↗“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.”
Latin
Widely attributed to Spinoza but not verified in his published works. The Latin "Homo liber..." is from Ethics IV, Prop. 67 and expresses a different idea.
“Cupiditas est ipsa hominis essentia.”
Latin
“Desire is the very essence of man.”
“Mentis amor intellectualis erga Deum est ipse Dei amor, quo Deus se ipsum amat, non quatenus infinitus est, sed quatenus per essentiam humanae mentis, sub specie aeternitatis consideratam, explicari potest; hoc est, mentis erga Deum amor intellectualis pars est infiniti amoris, quo Deus se ipsum amat.”
Latin
“The mind's intellectual love of God is the very love of God by which God loves himself, not insofar as he is infinite, but insofar as he can be explained through the essence of the human mind considered under the aspect of eternity; that is, the mind's intellectual love of God is part of the infinite love by which God loves himself.”
“Beatitudo non est virtutis praemium, sed ipsa virtus; nec eadem gaudemus, quia libidines coercemus; sed contra, quia eadem gaudemus, ideo libidines coercere possumus.”
Latin
“Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself; nor do we delight in blessedness because we restrain our lusts; but, on the contrary, because we delight in it, therefore we are able to restrain them.”
Translated by: 贺麟
The concluding proposition of the Ethics — Spinoza's final word on the relationship between virtue, knowledge, and human flourishing.
“Sedulo curavi, humanas actiones non ridere, non lugere, neque detestari, sed intelligere.”
Latin
“I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.”
“Pax enim non belli privatio, sed virtus est, quae ex animi fortitudine oritur.”
Latin
“Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, and justice.”
“He who would distinguish the true from the false must have an adequate idea of what is true and false.”
Latin