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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 Spinoza
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Revenge breeds misery, while love promotes strength and joy.

This quote by Baruch Spinoza emphasizes the futility of revenge, suggesting that harboring hatred only leads to a life of misery. In contrast, approaching conflict with love and understanding allows one to overcome challenges confidently and inspires others to surrender willingly, showing the power of positive emotions over negative ones.

Themes

HatredLoveRevengeConfidenceJoyMisery

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about conflict resolution, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of love over revenge.

More from Baruch Spinoza

The greatest pride, or the greatest despondency, is the greatest ignorance of one's self.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.]
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To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.
Baruch SpinozaRead

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