Edman—not to go back to Spinoza." - Meaning and context.">
George Santayana, in his letter to Mrs. Nancy Saunders Toy (who was the wife of Crawford Howell Toy), 12 August 1938

I ought to love the Jews, as they seem to be my only friends intellectually, beginning with Edman—not to go back to Spinoza.

— Baruch Spinoza

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I ought to love the Jews, as they seem to be my only friends intellectually, beginning with Edman—not to go back to Spinoza." in the context of "George Santayana, in his letter to Mrs. Nancy Saunders Toy (who was the wife of Crawford Howell Toy), 12 August 1938" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Baruch Spinoza" (Quotations regarding Spinoza: Alphabetized by author , S - Z, George Santayana) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Baruch Spinoza

About Baruch Spinoza

Benedictus de Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a social and metaphysical philosopher known for the elaborate development of his monist philosophy, which has become known as Spinozism. Controversy regarding his ideas led to his excommunication from the Jewish community of his native Amsterdam. He was named Baruch ("blessed" in Hebrew) Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento d'Espiñoza, but afterwards used the name Benedictus ("blessed" in Latin) de Spinoza.