Understanding rather than blaming

Spinoza held that nothing happens without a cause, and that understanding the causes of an act loosens the grip of the anger or resentment it stirs. To hold this stance is, before a wrong, to replace « whose fault is it? » with « what made this possible? »: indignation and guilt, which assume one could have done otherwise, lose their force, and you decide what comes next with a calm mind.

To understand is neither to excuse nor to resign: one can grasp the cause of a wrong and still firmly oppose it. Beware too of fatalism, « everything is determined, so I do nothing »: your reflection and your efforts are themselves among the causes of what follows.