Last Updated on March 11, 2021
Spinoza
I am not sure how it happened, but I read Spinoza when i was quite young. Probably early-mid teenage years. I may have just stumbled up it during one of the many hours I spent in the library.
Rationalism was quite appealing to me. Probably partially the biblical criticisms (I had been taught christian ideas and had rejected them). I liked the idea of having way of thinking about life that wasn’t didn’t place a mythical supernatural god at the center.
Managing yourself
“Human infirmity in moderating and checking the emotions I name bondage: for, when a man is a prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune: so much so, that he is often compelled, while seeing that which is better for him, to follow that which is worse.”
Spinoza
Understanding
Do not weep. Do not wax indignant. Understand.
The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
Spinoza
Perception versus Reality
Those ideas remind me of the conflict between perception and reality.
No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides.
Spinoza
This section on perception versus reality deserves it’s own post.