Spinoza's Words: (about riches, fame and sensual pleasure)

I could see the benefits which are
acquired through fame and riches, and that I should be obliged to
abandon the quest of such objects, if I seriously devoted myself
to the search for something different and new...
I therefore debated whether it would not be possible to
arrive at the new principle without changing the conduct and usual
plan of my life; with this end in view I made many efforts in vain.

For the ordinary surroundings of life which are
esteemed by men to be the highest good, may be classed under three heads -
Riches, Fame, and the Pleasures of Sense: with these three the mind is so absorbed
that it has little power to reflect on any different good