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If men were born free, they would, so long as they remained free, form no conception of good and evil.
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Pride is pleasure arising from a man's thinking too highly of himself.
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Desire is the essence of a man.
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Nothing exists from whose nature some effect does not follow.
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Blessedness is not the reward of virtue but virtue itself.
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Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue based on strength of character.
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Desire is the very essence of man.
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I call him free who is led solely by reason.
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Nothing in the universe is contingent, but all things are conditioned to exist and operate in a particular manner by the necessity of the divine nature.
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It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance.
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Whatsoever is contrary to nature is contrary to reason, and whatsoever is contrary to reason is absurd.
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The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.
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The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
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We feel and know that we are eternal.
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Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts.
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In proportion as we endeavor to live according to the guidance of reason, shall we strive as much as possible to depend less on hope, to liberate ourselves from fear, to rule fortune, and to direct our actions by the sure counsels of reason.
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The greatest pride, or the greatest despondency, is the greatest ignorance of one's self.
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Will and intellect are one and the same thing.
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For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
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The supreme mystery of despotism, its prop and stay, is to keep men in a state of deception, and with the specious title of religion to cloak the fear by which they must be held in check, so that they will fight for their servitude as if for salvation.
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Whatsoever is, is in God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived.
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Deus seu Natura
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Fame has also this great drawback, that if we pursue it, we must direct our lives so as to please the fancy of men.
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Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.