Spinoza, Baruch

"Power of any kind flows only from understanding and knowledge."

"To live by reason alone is to be free and to be perfect."

"The mind's progress is measured by the increasing adequacy of its ideas."

"The human body is composed of a great number of parts of diverse nature, each of which requires continuous varied replenishment."

"He who has a true knowledge of himself sees all things in himself."

"Desire is the very essence of man insofar as it is conceived as determined to any action."

"The greatest good is the knowledge of the union which the mind has with the whole of nature."

"All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."

"Joy is a transition to a greater perfection."

"The more we understand individual things, the more we understand God."

"A free man thinks of nothing less than of death, and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life."

"Hatred is increased by being reciprocated, and can on the other hand be destroyed by love."

"To live is to act."

"He alone is free who exists solely from the necessity of his own nature."

"The mind's highest good is the knowledge of God."

"Insofar as the mind understands all things as necessary, it has a certain power of determining the affections of the body."

"We strive to persevere in our being."

"God, or Nature, does nothing from design or end."

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

"Passive emotions diminish our power of acting."

"Understanding is the same as increasing one's power."

"Fear arises when we are incapable of acting."

"Consciousness of oneself is consciousness of a determinate being."

"Men are limited by their capacity for pleasure."

"The more we are determined by external causes, the more we are passive."

"Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves."

"Love is pleasure accompanied by the idea of its cause."

"Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself."

"Intellectual love is the highest form of knowledge."

"To live under constant fear is to live as if already dead."