Man is therefore not the best being in the universe; according to his
choice he occupies an intermediate rank. In the place he occupies,
however, he is not abandoned by Providence, which ever leads him
back to divine things by the numerous means it possesses to cause
the triumph of virtue. That is the reason why men have never lost
rationality, and why, to some degree, they always participate in
wisdom, intelligence, art, and the justice that regulates their mutual
relations. Even when one wrongs another, he is still given credit
for acting in justice to himself, and he is treated according to his
deserts.[53] Besides, man, as a creature, is handsome, as handsome as
possible, and, by the part he plays in the universe, he is superior to
all the animals that dwell here below.