It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance.
Baruch SpinozaNature offers nothing that can be called this man's rather than another's; but under nature everything belongs to all.
Baruch SpinozaI do not presume that I have found the best philosophy, I know that I understand the true philosophy.
Baruch SpinozaA free man, who lives among ignorant people, tries as much as he can to refuse their benefits. .. He who lives under the guidance of reason endeavours as much as possible to repay his fellow's hatred, rage, contempt, etc. with love and nobleness.
Baruch SpinozaIt is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the world.
Baruch SpinozaThe terms good and bad indicate no positive quality in things regarded in themselves, but are merely modes of thinking or notions, which we form from the comparison of things one with another. Thus one and the same thing can be at the same time good, bad, and indifferent. For instance, music is good for him that is melancholy, bad for him that mourns; for him that is deaf; it is neither good nor bad.
Baruch Spinoza