Baruch Spinoza

"The first and only foundation of virtue is the pursuit of one's own true interest."

"Each of us desires to live well, and this desire is a basic fact of human nature."

"Greed and ambition are the sources of human conflict."

"In nature there is no good or evil."

"Understanding is the union of the mind and body."

"Life itself is a continuous struggle and development."

"The memory is strengthened by exercising it."

"He who is properly convinced of the possibility of encountering true friendship will cultivate it."

"Time is the measure of motion and rest."

"That which is the highest human potential is the development of our reason."

"The more we contemplate our external objects, the more we love them."

"A thinking human being is the product of chance; a being aware of necessity is the product of reason."

"Human helplessness is so great that even the philosophers wonder whether we can actually do anything."

"There is nothing in the intellect that is not first in the senses."

"Humility is a sadness born of the fact that a man thinks of his impotence."

"The more we strive to live according to reason, the more we shall overcome irrational passions."

"That eternal and infinite being we call God or Nature acts from the necessity of his own nature alone."

"We are determined by what lies outside us."

"The path to enlightenment lies in understanding the interconnectedness of all things."

"Striving is the essence of being."

"The human mind is a part of the infinite intellect of God."

"Pride is excessive self-love."

"Envy is an expression of human malice."

"The wise man learns from others' mistakes; the foolish man from his own."

"Our emotions are the echoes of our choices."

"To understand something is to participate in its nature."

"The free man is he who is led by reason alone."

"Virtue is nothing else but to live according to reason."

"Nature is not limited to the operations of mind or body alone."

"The highest satisfaction is found in the exercise of reason."