He Who Wishes To Revenge Injuries

From Part IV of the Ethics (1677), Proposition 46 and its proof. Baruch Spinoza argues that hatred can only be overcome by love — specifically, by understanding the causes that generate hatred and responding with a generous emotion that is itself self-reinforcing. Returning hatred with hatred merely increases conflict and diminishes the rational power of both parties. Spinoza's argument here drew on his geometric method: he claims to demonstrate the practical superiority of love over hatred as surely as a mathematician proves a theorem.