Active and Proactive

In contemporary common parlance, 'active' usually connotes the opposite of 'inactive' or 'inert'.  Hence, it inadequately represents what Spinoza means by it--the opposite of 'passive' or 'reactive'.  Instead, a contemporary term that is closer to what Spinoza means by 'active' is 'proactive', signifying not only 'active', but also 'self-activating'.   Now, 'proactive' is instructive in distinguishing between Spinoza's concept of "persisting in being", and a prominent apparent synonym, 'self-preservation'.  For, as is exemplified by Hobbes' influential use of it, the latter typically connotes a reaction to a threat, whereas Spinoza conceives the endeavor to persist in one's being as proactive, i. e. as operative independent of external circumstances, hostile or otherwise.  Now, the previously discussed proposed revision of Spinoza's principle as the endeavor to maximize the exercise of strength introduces a further point of distinction between it and the concept of Self-Preservation.  For, to 'preserve' means to 'maintain', whereas to 'increase' means to not merely 'maintain', but to 'extend', as well.  Thus, the revision entails a proactive endeavor to increase strength even in the circumstance of no threat of a decrease.