Fame has also this great drawback, that if we pursue it, we must direct our lives so as to please the fancy of men.
Baruch SpinozaHe who hates anyone will endeavor to do him an injury, unless he fears that a greater injury will thereby accrue to himself; on the other hand, he who loves anyone will, by the same law, seek to benefit him.
Baruch SpinozaOnly that thing is free which exists by the necessities of its own nature, and is determined in its actions by itself alone.
Baruch SpinozaThe safest way for a state is to lay down the rule that religion is comprised solely in the exercise of charity and justice, and that the rights of rulers in sacred, no less than in secular matters, should merely have to do with actions, but that every man should think what he likes and say what he thinks.
Baruch Spinoza