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If we lose our tears

A woman reacts while standing in a street, which was damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the ...
29 April 2022
“Non ridere, non lugere neque detestari sed intelligere”, is a famous quote by Baruch Spinoza which is also easy to translate: “Not to laugh, not to lament, not to detest, but (only seek) to understand”. The great Dutch philosopher was referring to “human actions” that had to be the subject of understanding, thus of intelligence, on the condition however, of first drying up emotionalism. These are obviously very wise words. When they were uttered, perhaps they were also a cry addressed to the people of his time in order to make them stop the folly of the incessant war that was causing bloodshed throughout Europe in those centuries. That cry became a sort of reverse prophecy in the sense that it unfortunately came true. Contemporary man has dried up emotionalism in favour of rationality. In this sense, Spinoza seems to be the “father” of ...

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