Ethics (Spinoza book)

"No one envies the virtue of anyone who is not his equal."

"The force whereby a man persists in existing is limited, and is infinitely surpassed by the power of external causes."

"No virtue can be conceived as prior to this endeavor to preserve ones own being."

"A body is called finite because we always conceive another greater body. So, also, a thought is limited by another thought, but a body is not limited by thought, nor a thought by body."

"That thing is called free, which exists solely by the necessity of its own nature, and of which the action is determined by itself alone. On the other hand, that thing is necessary, or rather constrained, which is determined by something external to itself to a fixed and definite method of existence or action."

"This reciprocal love, and consequently the desire to benefit him who loves us, and who endeavors to benefit us, is called gratitude or thankfulness. ...men are much more prone to take vengeance than to return benefits."