Stars, therefore, stand in need of no feeding,[221] and we should not
judge them according to our own circumstances. Indeed, our (human)
soul, which contains our bodies, is not identical with the Soul that
contains the heaven; our soul does not reside in the same place, while
the world-Soul does not, like our composite bodies lose (excreta). Not
as our bodies do the stars need continual metabolic replacing food.
From our conception of celestial bodies we should remove all ideas of
a change that could modify their constitution. Terrestrial bodies are
animated by an entirely different nature[222]; which though because
of its weakness is incapable of insuring them a durable existence,
nevertheless imitates the superior nature (of the celestial Soul) by
birth and generation. Elsewhere[223] we have shown that even this
very celestial Soul cannot partake of the perfect immutability of
intelligible things.