Now supposing that (the divinity) were given the chance to choose what
He would like to be, and that He were permitted to change His nature,
He would not desire to become different from what He is; He would not
find in Himself anything that displeased Him, as if He had been forced
to be what He is; for He as ever willed, and still wills to be what
He is. The nature of Good is really His will; He has neither yielded
to a lure, nor (blindly) followed his own nature, but He preferred
Himself, because there was nothing different that He could have wished
to be. With this, contrast that other beings do not find implied in
their own being the reason of pleasing themselves, and that some of
them are even dissatisfied with themselves. In the hypostatic existence
of the Good, however, is necessarily contained self-choice, and
self-desire; otherwise, there would be nothing in the whole universe
that could please itself, since one pleases himself only inasmuch as he
participates in the Good, and possesses an image of it within oneself.
EVERY TERM, WHEN APPLIED TO THE DIVINITY, SHOULD BE PRECEDED BY A
PARTICLE REMINDING IT IS ONLY USED METAPHORICALLY.
We must, however, ask indulgence for our language; when speaking of the
(divinity) we are, by the necessity of being understood, obliged to
make use of words which a meticulous accuracy would question. Each of
them should be prefixed by a (warning) particle, (meaning "somewhat,"
or) "higher."