Although during these years Rolland's chief interest was directed towards philosophy, although he was a diligent student of the pre-Socratic philosop… - Benedictus de Spinoza

Jorge Luis Borges, "Baruch Spinoza", in his Selected Poems, edited by Alexander Coleman. (New York: Penguin Books, 2000)

The attention that literary artists have lavished on Spinoza is remarkable. Writers have not only shaped their aesthetics by reflection on Spinoza, have not only inserted his views into the inner lives and dialogues of their characters, but have molded the man himself into a protagonist in their novels, poems, and plays. This last aspect of the literary fascination with Spinoza is particularly noteworthy. The person of Benedictus Spinoza has drawn, over the centuries, unusual attention, and not only from literary writers.

Johann Peter Eckermann, Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens, 1831