Quote #73

In so far as we are intelligent beings, we cannot desire anything save that which is necessary, nor yield absolute acquiescence to anything, save to that which is true: wherefore, in so far as we have a right understanding of these things, the endeavour of the better part of ourselves is in harmony with the order of nature as a whole.

More from Baruch Spinoza

  1. Flattery begets harmony; but only by means of the vile offence of slavishness or treachery. None are more readily taken with flattery than …
  2. An emotion, which is a passion, ceases to be a passion, as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea thereof.
  3. To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the power and the advantage of any private person. For the riches of any private person are who…
  4. The mind has greater power over the emotions and is less subject thereto, in so far as it understands all things as necessary.
  5. It is before all things useful to men to associate their ways of life, to bind themselves together with such bonds as they think most fitte…
  6. Those are most desirous of honor and glory who cry out the loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the world.
  7. In so far as men are influenced by envy or any kind of hatred, one towards another, they are at variance, and are therefore to be feared in…
  8. He who clearly and distinctly understands himself and his emotions loves God, and so much the more in proportion as he more understands him…

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