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Baruch Spinoza

Quote of Baruch Spinoza - All things excellent are as difficult...


Biography - Baruch Spinoza:

Dutch philosopher.
Born: 1632 - Died: 1677
Period:
17th century
Place of birth: Netherlands
Netherlands

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.


Note 

Note



"I have thus completed all I wished to set forth touching the mind's power over the emotions and the mind's freedom. Whence it appears, how potent is the wise man, and how much he surpasses the ignorant man, who is driven only by his lusts. For the ignorant man is not only distracted in various ways by external causes without ever gaining the true acquiescence of his spirit, but moreover lives, as it were unwitting of himself, and of God, and of things, and as soon as he ceases to suffer, ceases also to be.

Whereas the wise man, in so far as he is regarded as such, is scarcely at all disturbed in spirit, but, being conscious of himself, and of God, and of things, by a certain eternal necessity, never ceases to be, but always possesses true acquiescence of his spirit.

If the way which I have pointed out as leading to this result seems exceedingly hard, it may nevertheless be discovered. Needs must it be hard, since it is so seldom found. How would it be possible, if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labour be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."


Quote source: Ethics

Wikisource - Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza (en) 

Wikisource - Œuvres de Spinoza (fr) 



All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.



Translation

Translation

(French, German)



French
Tout ce qui est beau est difficile autant que rare.

German
Alles Vortreffliche ist ebenso schwierig wie selten.




See also 

See also...



To the stars through difficulty.


On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.

The greatest liberty is born of the greatest rigor.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere.

Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.

To make a virtue out of necessity; that is the beautiful and great work.




Quotes for: wisdom


Quotes

Quotes about wisdom:


Patience is the companion of wisdom.





To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.





Wisdom leads us back to childhood.





This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.





The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.





Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.











Quotes for: beauty


Quotes

Quotes about beauty:


Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.





All the diversity, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.





Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.





What beauty is, I know not.





I hold that the perfection of form and beauty is contained in the sum of all men.





Beauty is the sole ambition, the exclusive goal of Taste.











Quotes for: virtue


Quotes

Quotes about virtue:


The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage.





Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.





Recommend virtue to your children it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience.





The virtues lose themselves in interest as the rivers are lost in the sea.





Humility is not a virtue; that is, it does not arise from reason.





There is no happiness without courage, nor virtue without struggle.











Quotes for: difficulty


Quotes

Quotes for: difficulty


Out of clutter find simplicity ; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.





Happiness is not easily won; it is hard to find it in ourselves and impossible to find it elsewhere.





One of the most important and most difficult arts is to unlearn vice.





Remember to keep a clear head in difficult times.





A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.





If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.











Quotes

Baruch Spinoza also said...


I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate, but to understand human actions.





Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.





Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear.





Joy is the transition of man from a less to a greater perfection.





Humility is not a virtue; that is, it does not arise from reason.





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












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