Since I had my wisdom teeth yanked Tuesday, I stopped at the library beforehand to snatch up yet some more to read.

"Philosophy, as Spinoza understands it, does not peddle in temporary cheer, modest improvements in well-being, or chicken soup for the soul; it seeks & claims to find a basis for happiness that is absolutely certain, permanent, & divine...having established the archetypal condition of absolute darkness from which much of philosophy originates & the archetypal goal of unbounded blessedness for which it strives, Spinoza next commits himself to the archetypal means with which philosophy proposes to achieve its end, namely, the life of the mind--that is, the pursuit of wisdom in a life of contemplation. This is the point at which the philosophers & the theologians traditionally part ways. Whereas religious thinkers ultimately find sanctuary in the absolute certainty of revealed truth--passed on by word of mouth from God to us, via the scriptures & their interpreters--philosophers such as Spinoza take for granted that absolute certainty can come only from one's own internal resources."

Matthew Stewart, The Courtier & The Heretic--Leibniz, Spinoza, & the Fate of God In the Modern World.