10 Quotes from Baruch Spinoza, the Important Name of 17th Century Philosophy

Spinoza, who was born in 1632, is the leading philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age. Spinoza, who has modern views about the universe, is among the leading rationalists of 17th century philosophy by making testament criticisms. Like all other philosophers who could not be understood in his own age, Spinoza was misunderstood by those around him in his own age. Contrary to many other thinkers, he argues that the body and spirit do not have any superiority over each other, on the contrary, they are parallel.

1) “Whatever does not find a reason for its own existence does not exist.”

2) “The arrogant people enjoy the presence of parasites and sycophants, they hate the presence of noble spirits.”

3) “If a person has begun to hate something he loves to such an extent that his love has completely disappeared, because the cause of the feelings is the same, he will hate that thing more than if he had never loved that thing at all, and this hatred will be greater the greater the previous love.”

4) “To exist is a power, it follows that the more reality something has, the more power it has to exist.”

5) “If a person imagines that another person is attached to the loved one by the same bond of friendship or a stronger bond that is only under his hand, he will hold a grudge against the loved one and envy the other person as well.”

6) “Reputation has another big drawback, and that is that we have to live our lives according to people’s perceptions, that is, by avoiding the things people always avoid, by always wanting what they want.”

7) “No one has the right to decide what is just and what is unjust, what is moral and what is immoral.”

8) “The less people know about nature, the easier they make things up.”

9) “If the ability to be silent in human beings was as strong as that of speech, of course, one could be much happier in human relations.”

10) “Philosophy is necessary for people not to cope with the fear of death, but rather to eliminate the fear of life.”