The greatest pride, or the greatest despondency, is the greatest ignorance of one's self.
Baruch SpinozaRead
If anyone conceives, that an object of his love joins itself to another with closer bonds of friendship than he himself has attained to, he will be affected with hatred towards the loved object and with envy towards his rival.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Feeling jealousy or hatred towards a loved one can arise when they bond more closely with someone else.
In this quote, Baruch Spinoza explores the complex emotions that can arise in relationships, particularly when love is intertwined with jealousy. When someone perceives that their loved one shares a more profound connection with another person, it can trigger feelings of resentment and envy, highlighting the human tendency to feel threatened by perceived rivals in affection and intimacy.
Themes
LoveJealousyEnvyRelationshipsFriendship
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the complexities of love and friendship.
More from Baruch Spinoza
All quotes →A man is as much affected pleasurably or painfully by the image of a thing past or future as by the image of a thing present.
Baruch SpinozaRead
He who seeks to regulate everything by law is more likely to arouse vices than to reform them. It is best to grant what cannot be abolished, even though it be in itself harmful. How many evils spring from luxury, envy, avarice, drunkenness and the like, yet these are tolerated because they cannot be prevented by legal enactments.
Baruch SpinozaRead
No one doubts but that we imagine time from the very fact that we imagine other bodies to be moved slower or faster or equally fast. We are accustomed to determine duration by the aid of some measure of motion.
Baruch SpinozaRead
Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear. [They are the two sides of a coin, so learning how to manage fear through learning, understanding, rationality, controlled imagination, preparation, mental focus (including distraction) and a gratitude attitude is very helpful.]
Baruch SpinozaRead
He who wishes to revenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. But he who endeavors to drive away hatred by means of love, fights with pleasure and confidence; he resists equally one or many men, and scarcely needs at all the help of fortune. Those whom he conquers yield joyfully
Baruch SpinozaRead
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