All the better; they do not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord if I did not dread scandal. But since they want it that way, I enter gladly on the path that is opened to me, with the consolation that my departure will be more innocent than was the exodus of the early Hebrews from Egypt.


after excommunication, attributed by Lucas, in A. Wolf, The Oldest Biography of Spinoza (1970); also in Steven Nadler. Spinoza: A Life (1999)

Baruch Spinoza Quotes

All the better; they do not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord if I did not dread scandal. But since they want it...

All the better; they do not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord if I did not dread scandal. But since they want it...

All the better; they do not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord if I did not dread scandal. But since they want it...

All the better; they do not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord if I did not dread scandal. But since they want it...