For the world is not to be tailored to the slenderness of the intellect (which is what has been done hitherto) but the intellect should be stretched and opened up to take in the image of the world as we really find it.
Francis Bacon, Parasceve ad historiam naturalem
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… the wise man, insofar as he is considered as such, is hardly troubled in spirit, but being, by a certain eternal necessity, conscious of himself, and of God, and of things, he never ceases to be, but always possesses true peace of mind…. If the way I have shown to lead to these things now seems very hard, still it can be found. And of course, what is found so rarely must be hard. For if salvation were at hand, and could be found without great effort, how could nearly everyone neglect it? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
Benedictus de Spinoza, Ethica, Part 5, proposition 42, scholium
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