“For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character.”

— Baruch Spinoza, Political Treatise, 1677, Ch. 5, Of the Best State of a Dominion

About Baruch Spinoza

1632 – 1677

Dutch philosopher, author of the "Ethics".

“All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.”

“A free man thinks of death least of all things; and his wisdom is a meditation not of death but of life.”

“Extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme ignorance of self.”

“Why, what is weeping and sighing? A judgement. What is misfortune? A judgement.”

“Remember that all is opinion.”

“The universe is flux, life is opinion.”

“He had only one vanity; he thought he could give advice better than any other person.”

“Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem—in my opinion—to characterize our age.”

“The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.”