41. It would seem that thought was only a help granted to natures
which, though divine, nevertheless do not occupy the first rank;
it is like an eye given to the blind.[159] But what need would the
eye have to see essence, if itself were light? To seek light is the
characteristic of him who needs it, because he finds in himself nothing
but darkness.[159] Since thought seeks light, while the light does not
seek the light, the primary Nature, not seeking the light (since it is
light itself), could not any more seek thought (since it is thought
that seeks light); thinking could not suit it, therefore. What utility
or advantage would thought bring him, inasmuch as thought itself needs
aid to think? The Good therefore has not self-consciousness, not having
need thereof; it is not doubleness; or rather, it is not double as is
thought which implies (besides intelligence) a third term, namely, the
intelligible (world). If thought, the thinking subject (the thinker)
and the thought object (the thought) be absolutely identical, they form
but one, and are absolutely indistinguishable; if they be distinct,
they differ, and can no more be the Good. Thus we must put everything
aside when we think of this "best Nature," which stands in need of no
assistance. Whatever you may attribute to this Nature, you diminish
it by that amount, since it stands in need of nothing. For us, on the
contrary, thought is a beautiful thing, because our soul has need of
intelligence. It is similarly a beautiful thing for intelligence,
because thought is identical with essence, and it is thought that gave
existence to intelligence.