E5P42S
Scholium — Part V
Latin
His omnia quæ de mentis in affectus potentia quæque de mentis libertate ostendere volueram, absolvi. Ex quibus apparet quantum sapiens polleat potiorque sit ignaro qui sola libidine agitur. Ignarus enim præterquam quod a causis externis multis modis agitatur nec unquam vera animi acquiescentia potitur, vivit præterea sui et Dei et rerum quasi inscius et simulac pati desinit, simul etiam esse desinit. Cum contra sapiens quatenus ut talis consideratur, vix animo movetur sed sui et Dei et rerum æterna quadam necessitate conscius, nunquam esse desinit sed semper vera animi acquiescentia potitur. Si jam via quam ad hæc ducere ostendi, perardua videatur, inveniri tamen potest. Et sane arduum debet esse quod adeo raro reperitur. Qui enim posset fieri si salus in promptu esset et sine magno labore reperiri posset ut ab omnibus fere negligeretur? Sed omnia præclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt.
English (Elwes 1883)
I have thus completed all I wished to set forth touching the mind's power over the emotions and the mind's freedom. Whence it appears, how potent is the wise man, and how much he surpasses the ignorant man, who is driven only by his lusts. For the ignorant man is not only distracted in various ways by external causes without ever gaining the true acquiescence of his spirit, but moreover lives, as it were unwitting of himself, and of God, and of things, and as soon as he ceases to suffer, ceases also to be.
Whereas the wise man, in so far as he is regarded as such, is scarcely at all disturbed in spirit, but, being conscious of himself, and of God, and of things, by a certain eternal necessity, never ceases to be, but always possesses true acquiescence of his spirit.
If the way which I have pointed out as leading to this result seems exceedingly hard, it may nevertheless be discovered. Needs must it be hard, since it is so seldom found. How would it be possible, if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labour be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
End of the Ethics by Benedict de Spinoza
[1] "Affectiones"
[2] "Forma"
[3] "Animata"
[4] A Baconian phrase. Nov. Org. Aph. 100. [Pollock, p. 126, n.]
[5] Conscientiae morsus--thus rendered by Mr. Pollock.
[6] By "men" in this and the following propositions, I mean men whom we regard without any particular emotion.
[7] So Van Vloten and Bruder. The Dutch version and Camerer read, "an internal cause." "Honor" = Gloria.
[8] See previous endnote.
[9] Ovid, "Amores," II. xix. 4,5. Spinoza transposes the verses. "Speremus pariter, pariter metuamus amantes; Ferreus est, si quis, quod sinit alter, amat."
[10] This is possible, though the human mind is part of the divine intellect, as I have shown in II. xiii. note.
[11] Gloria.
[12] Ov. Met. vii.20, "Video meliora proboque, Deteriora sequor."
[13] Honestas
[14] Land reads: "Quod ipsius agendi potentia juvatur"--which I have translated above. He suggests as alternative readings to 'quod', 'quo' (= whereby) and 'quodque' (= and that).
[15] "Maltim praesens minus prae majori futuro." (Van Vloten). Bruder reads: "Malum praesens minus, quod causa est faturi alicujus mali." The last word of the latter is an obvious misprint, and is corrected by the Dutch translator into "majoris boni." (Pollock, p. 268, note.)
[16] Continuo. Rendered "constantly" by Mr. Pollock on the ground that the classical meaning of the word does not suit the context. I venture to think, however, that a tolerable sense may be obtained without doing violence to Spinoza's scholarship.
[17] Affectiones. Camerer reads affectus----emotions.
Modern English
With this I have completed everything I intended to show concerning the mind's power over the affects and the mind's freedom. From what has been shown, it is clear how much the wise man surpasses the ignorant, the one who is driven only by his lusts. The ignorant man is not only buffeted in many ways by external causes and never possesses true contentment of mind; he also lives as though barely conscious of himself, God, and things, and as soon as he ceases to suffer, he ceases to exist.
The wise man, by contrast, insofar as he is considered as such, is scarcely troubled in spirit. Conscious of himself, God, and things by a kind of eternal necessity, he never ceases to exist and always possesses true contentment of mind.
If the way I have shown to lead to this seems very hard, it can still be found. And hard it must be, since it is found so rarely. For if salvation lay ready to hand and could be found without great effort, it would scarcely be neglected by almost everyone — yet it is. But all excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.