Spinoza

"Freedom grows as our understanding grows; ignorance is the root of all slavery."

"The soul experiences joy in proportion to its understanding of its own power."

"What we call evil is often merely the incompleteness of our understanding."

"To affirm oneself is the highest ethical act."

"Nature speaks to those who listen with understanding, not with fear."

"The mind's eternity consists in its participation in infinite understanding."

"Money is merely crystallized time and effort; guard it as you would your own existence."

"Adventure for its own sake is often escape from the work of self-understanding."

"The mind grows eternal as it grasps the eternal nature of things."

"To know oneself truly is to know one's own power and its limits."

"Joy is the mind becoming more conscious of its own power."

"The greatest art is that which reveals the necessary structure of reality."

"We are all part of nature, and nature is part of us; separation is an illusion."

"To act from passion is to be acted upon; to act from reason is to be free."

"The infinite modes of nature mirror the infinite attributes of God."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but understanding what truly threatens us."

"Every individual thing strives to persevere in its being; this is its right and its essence."

"To diminish another's power is ultimately to diminish oneself."

"The mind is eternal precisely in its transcendence of temporal concerns."

"Love without understanding is mere sentiment; true love seeks the good of the beloved."

"Solitude is valuable only if it leads to greater understanding and self-knowledge."

"The mind that understands all things as determined by causes is the freest mind."

"Reality is the activity of being; passivity is the diminishment of being."

"To create is to manifest one's own power; thus creation is the highest form of freedom."