Spinoza’s Secret to Rising Above Criticism

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Imagine that you had dedicated yourself to helping others think a little differently about life so they’d be happier and better off. You’ve put your whole heart into this work and made a lot of sacrifices in doing so. But you’ve gotten no appreciation from others—on the contrary, everyone’s said your ideas are garbage and you’re a rotten person for suggesting them. No doubt, you’d be bitter and disheartened.

That was exactly the situation in which the 17th-century Portuguese Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza found himself: working to make the world a happier, more harmonious place by arguing that God is everywhere, and that humans are one with him. But Spinoza was, in the words of his b