“That being?” “That being God or Spinoza’s version of God, which is entirely equivalent to Nature. Recall Spinoza’s phrase that influenced Goethe so much: ‘Whosoever truly loves God must not desire God to love him in return.’ He’s saying that we live in folly if we love God in the expectation of receiving God’s love in return. Spinoza’s God is not a sentient being. If we love God, we cannot receive love in return, but we do receive some other good.”
