Baruch Spinoza quotes
1632 – 1677 · Dutch Republic, 17th century · Philosopher
About Baruch Spinoza
Born in Amsterdam in 1632 and died in The Hague in 1677, Spinoza developed a rigorous naturalistic and rationalist system. In the Ethics and his political writings he argues that mind and nature follow natural laws and that passions should be explained through causes rather than condemned. His work shaped Enlightenment thought.
Works: Ethics (Ethica), Tractatus politicus (Political Treatise), Theological‑Political Treatise
Quotes
“I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.”
Source: Political Treatise, Introduction (1677) · Check the source
Verified attribution What we know
- What is documented
- The Latin formula non ridere, non lugere, neque detestari, sed intelligere is recorded in the Introduction to Spinoza’s Tractatus politicus.
Spinoza sets out an intellectual stance: resist mockery, pity that condemns, and revulsion, and instead seek the causes of human behavior. It’s a methodological claim—treat passions as natural phenomena to be explained, not moral anomalies. The line appears in the Introduction to his Political Treatise.