Thus we see, that the mind can undergo many changes, and can pass sometimes to a state of greater perfection, sometimes to a state of lesser perfecti… - Benedictus de Spinoza

The fundamental principle of the atheism of Spinoza is the doctrine of the simplicity of the universe, and the unity of that substance, in which he supposes both thought and matter to inhere. There is only one substance, says he, in the world; and that substance is perfectly simple and indivisible, and exists every where, without any local presence. Whatever we discover externally by sensation; whatever we feel internally by reflection; all these are nothing but modifications of that one, simple, and necessarily existent being, and are not possest of any separate or distinct existence. Every passion of the soul; every configuration of matter, however different and various, inhere in the same substance, and preserve in themselves their characters of distinction, without communicating them to that subject, in which they inhere.

...The influence of Spinozism attained its height in Germany when it overwhelmed Herder, Goethe, and Schiller, the mental giants of Weimar. Weimar was the cradle of modern German culture. It is to the new Germany what Athens was to ancient Hellas, or Jerusalem to ancient Judea, a sea of light and the center of creative genius. From Weimar emanated all the great cultural traditions of the Fatherland, which secured for Germany her proud position in the realm of European culture. Over this spirit of Weimar hovered the genius of Baruch Spinoza. It was here that Spinozism became a dominating influence in the life of the new German culture. But in this process of expansion it was transformed into something different from the original doctrine of the philosopher. The creative geniuses of Weimar could not possibly become reconciled to the mechanistic world-picture from which personality was banished. To Goethe personality was the highest gift of the Gods to man and enjoyed an even higher place in his affections than did Spinozism. The same can be said of many other poets who later embraced some form of Spinozism.

لقد أُوحيَت كلُّ المقاييس إلى سُليمان بوسائل على مُستوى فَهْمِه وطبقًا لآرائه؛ ذلك لأنه، نظرًا إلى أننا غير مُلزَمين بالاعتقاد بأنَّ سليمان كان رياضيًّا، فمن حقِّنا أن نؤكِّد أنه كان يجهَلُ نِسبة مُحيط الدائرة إلى قُطرها، وكان يظنُّ مع جمهرة العُمَّال أنها نسبة ٣ إلى ١، فإذا قيل إنَّنا لم نفهم نصَّ سِفر الملوك (٧: ٢٣) فإني لا أعلم، في الحق، ماذا يُمكننا أن نفهم من الكتاب؛ ذلك لأنَّ ما ورَد في هذا الموضع كان مُجرَّد وصفٍ للبناء، وعلى نحوٍ تاريخي مَحْض. أمَّا إذا اعتقَدَ أحدٌ أنه يستطيع افتراضَ قصْدٍ آخر للكِتاب لم يُصرَّح به لسبب نجهله، فإنَّ هذا أمرٌ لا يترتَّب عليه أقلُّ من أن نقلِبَ الكتاب بأسره رأسًا على عقب