All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
Baruch Spinoza Ethics, Part V, closing note (1677) Translated by R. H. M. Elwes
Source checked by an editor
When and why it was written
- When
- The last sentence of Spinoza's Ethics, published after his death in 1677.
- Why
- Spinoza ends his great work by admitting how hard the path he has described is.
What it means
After hundreds of pages of proofs, Spinoza closes with honesty: the good life is difficult, which is why it is rare.
Difficulty is not a sign you are on the wrong road.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
Read the source
Ethics, 1677
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