Sub specie aeternitatis
The Latin expression sub specie aeternitatis ("from the point of view of eternity ") is mostly used in literature in the sense that one should not focus one's thoughts and actions on the transient here, but on the eternal values that are shared with God and with Be equated beyond and everything temporally removed.
The expression was coined by Spinoza in his main philosophical work Ethica more geometrico demonstrata part 5, proposition 29 ff. ( Published posthumously in 1677 ). Spinoza uses the term to characterize the philosopher's point of view . The philosophical spirit does not see things in their deceptively diverse appearances, but as the one and only infinite and eternal substance which it calls "God or Nature" ( Deus sive Natura ). Since species also means shape , the expression could also be freely translated as: in the shape of eternal substance .