Baruch Spinoza Quotes on Love
Baruch Spinoza was a 17th-century Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish descent, regarded as one of the leading rationalists of the early modern period. This page collects quotes attributed to Baruch Spinoza on the topic of love, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Baruch Spinoza:
“Hatred is increased by being reciprocated, and can on the other hand be destroyed by love.”
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Attributed to Baruch Spinoza:
“He who lives according to the dictates of reason endeavours, as much as possible, to render back love, or kindness, for other men's hatred, anger, and contempt towards him.”
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“But love for an object eternal and infinite feeds the mind with joy alone, and a joy which is free from all sorrow. This is something greatly to be desired and to be sought with all our strength.”
On the Improvement of the Understanding(1662) | I, 10; translation by W. Hale White (Revised by Amelia Hutchison Stirling) -
“All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.”
On the Improvement of the Understanding(1662) | I, 9; translation by W. Hale White (Revised by Amelia Hutchison Stirling) -
“I ought to love the Jews, as they seem to be my only friends intellectually, beginning with Edman —not to go back to Spinoza.”
George Santayana | George Santayana , in his letter to Mrs. Nancy Saunders Toy (who was the wife of Crawford Howell Toy ), 12 August 1938 [ specific citation needed ]