“That thing is said to be free (liber) which exists solely from the necessity of its own nature.”
—BARUCH SPINOZA, Ethics, part 1, definition 7
“Freedom of mind . . . is a private virtue.”
—BARUCH SPINOZA, Tractatus Politicus, chapter I, section 6
“The supreme mystery of despotism, its prop and stay, is to keep men in a state of deception, and . . . cloak the fear by which they must be held in check, so that they will fight for their servitude as if for salvation.”
—BARUCH SPINOZA, Theological-Political Treatise
“The human heart is conquered not by arms but by love and nobility.”