again: that which you see was not there before, and that which was, no
longer is. Who is he who remakes it if the producer is continually
dying?
65.
Anaxagoras: Everything proceeds from everything, and everything becomes
everything, because that which exists in the elements is composed of
those elements.
[Sidenote: Nature]
66.
Nature appears to have been the cruel stepmother rather than the mother
of many animals, and in some cases not the stepmother, but the pitying
mother.
67.
Why did nature not ordain that one animal should not live by the death
of the other? Nature, being inconstant and taking pleasure in
continually creating and making lives and forms, because she knows that
her earthly materials are thereby augmented, is more willing and swift
to create than time is to destroy; and so she has ordained that many
animals shall feed on each other. And as even thus her desire is not
satisfied, she frequently sends forth certain poisonous and
pestilential vapours upon the increasing multitude and congregation of
animals, and especially upon men who increase to a great extent,
because other animals do not feed on them; and since there is no cause,
{25} there would follow no effect. This earth, therefore, seeks to
lose its [animal] life, desiring only continual reproduction, and as,
by the logical demonstration you adduce, effects often resemble their
causes, animals are the image of the life of the world.
[Sidenote: Life's Philosophy]
68.
Now you see that the hope and the desire of returning home to one's
former state is like the desire of the moth for the light, and the man
who, with constant yearning and joyful expectancy, awaits the new
spring and the new summer, and every new month and the new year, and
thinks that what he longs for is ever too late in coming, and does not
perceive that he is longing for his own destruction. But this desire
is the quintessence, the spirit, of the elements, which, finding itself
captive in the soul of the human body, desires always to return to its
giver. And I would have you know that this same desire is the
quintessence which is inseparable from nature, and that man is the
model of the world. And such is the supreme folly of man that he
labours so as to labour no more, and life flies from him while he
forever hopes to enjoy the goods which he has acquired at the price of
great labour.
[Sidenote: The Senses and the Soul]
69.
The soul seems to dwell in the intellect, and the intellect appears to
dwell in that part where all {26} the senses meet which is called the
brain, and the brain does not pervade the whole body, as many have
thought; on the contrary, it dwells entirely in one part, because if it
were all in all and the same in every part, it would not have been
necessary for the instruments of the senses to combine among themselves
in one single spot; but rather, it would have been sufficient for the
eye to fulfil the function of its sensation on the surface without
transmitting, by means of the optic nerves, the likeness of its vision
to the brain, so that the soul, for the reason given above, might
perceive it in the surface of the eye. Likewise, with regard to the
sense of hearing, it would have been sufficient if the voice had
sounded only in the porous cavity of the indurated bone which lies
within the ear, without making any further transit from this bone to
the brain, which is its destination and where it discourses with common
judgement. The sense of smell, too, is likewise compelled by necessity
to proceed to the intellect; the sense of touch passes through the
nerves and is conveyed to the brain, and these nerves diverge with
infinite ramification in the skin, which encloses the limbs of the body
and the entrails. The nerves convey volition and sensation to the
muscles, and these nerves and the tendons which lie between the muscles
and the sinews give movement to them; the muscles and sinews obey, and
this obedience takes effect by the decrease {27} of their thickness,
for in swelling their length is reduced, and the tendons which are
interwoven among the particles of the limbs shrink, and as they extend
to the tips of the fingers they transmit to the brain the cause of the
sense of touch which they feel. The tendons with their muscles obey
the nerves as soldiers obey their officers, and the nerves obey the
brain as the officers obey their captain; thus the joint of the bones
obeys the tendon, and the tendons obey the muscles, and the muscles
obey the nerves, and the nerves obey the brain, and the brain is the
dwelling of the soul, and the memory is its ammunition and the
perception is its refundary.
[Sidenote: Of Sensation]
70.
The brain is that which perceives what is transmitted to it by the
other senses. The brain moves by means of that which is transmitted to
it by the five senses. Motion is transmitted to the senses by objects,
and these objects, transmitting their images to the five senses, are
transferred by them to the perception, and by the perception to the
brain; and there they are comprehended and committed to the memory, in
which, according to their intensity, they are more or less firmly
retained.
The thinkers of ancient times concluded that the part of man which
constitutes his intellect is caused by an instrument to which the other
five {28} senses refer everything by means of the perception, and this
instrument they have named the "common sense" or brain, and they say
that this sense is situated in the centre of the head. And they have
given it this name "common sense" solely because it is the common judge
of the five other senses, that is to say, sight, hearing, touch, taste
and smell. The "common sense" is stirred by means of the perception
which is placed between it and the senses. The perception is stirred
by means of the images of things conveyed to it by the external
instruments to the senses, and these are placed in the centre between
the external things and the perception, and the senses likewise are
stirred by objects. Surrounding objects transmit their images to the
senses, and the senses transfer them to the perception, and the
perception transfers them to the "common sense" (brain), and by it they
are stamped upon the memory, and are there retained in a greater or
lesser degree according to the importance and intensity of the
impression. The sense which is most closely connected with the
perception is the most rapid in action, and this sense is the eye, the
highest and chief of the others; of this sense alone we will treat, and
we will leave the others in order not to unduly lengthen our matter.
[Sidenote: Automatic Movements]
71.
Nature has ordained for man the ministering {29} muscles which exercise
the sinews, and by means of which the limbs can be moved according to
the will and desire of the brain, like to officers distributed by a
ruler over many provinces and towns, who represent their ruler in these
places, and obey his will. And this officer, who will in a single
instance have most faithfully obeyed the orders he received from his
master by word of mouth, will afterwards, in a similar way, of his own
accord fulfil the wishes of his master.
An example of this can be frequently seen in the fingers, which learn
to perform on an instrument the things which the intellect commands,
and the lesson once learnt they will perform it without the aid of the
intellect. And do not the muscles which cause the legs to move perform
their duty without man being conscious of it?
72.
You will see palsied and shivering persons move, and their trembling
limbs, such as their head and hands, quiver, without the permission of
the soul, and the soul, though it expend all its might, cannot prevent
these limbs from trembling. The same thing occurs in epilepsy or when
limbs are partially truncated, as in the case of tails of lizards.
[Sidenote: Intellect]
73.
It happens that our intellect is that which prompts the hand to create
the features of figures in {30} divine aspects until it finds
satisfaction; and since the intellect is one of the tones of our soul,
by means of the soul it composes the form of the body where it dwells,
according to its volition. And when it has to reproduce a human body,
it takes pleasure in repeating the body which it originally created;
whence it follows that they who fall in love are prone to become
enamoured of what resembles them.
[Sidenote: Of the Senses]
74.
There are the four powers: memory, intellect, sensuality and lust. The
first two are intellectual, the others sensual. Of the five senses,
sight, hearing, smell are with difficulty prevented; touch and taste
not at all. Taste follows smell in the case of dogs and other greedy
animals.
75.
Why does the eye perceive things more clearly in dreams than with the
imagination when one is awake?
[Sidenote: Time]
76.
Although time is included among continuous quantities, being
indivisible and immaterial it does not altogether fall into the scope
of geometry,--by which it is divided into figures and bodies of
infinite variety, which are seen to be continuous inasmuch as they are
visible and material,--but it agrees only with its first principles,
{31} i.e. with the point and the line; the point in time may be
compared to an instant, and the line to the length of a certain
quantity of time. Just as the point is the beginning and end of a
line, so is an instant the beginning and end of any given space of
time; and just as a line is infinitely divisible, so can a given space
of time be likewise divided, and as the divisions of the line are in
proportion to each other, so likewise are the divisions of time.
77.
In twelve whole figures the cosmography of the miniature world will be
shown to you in the same manner as Ptolemy in his cosmography. And so
I will divide it afterwards into limbs as he divided the world into
provinces; then I will explain the function of the parts in every
direction, and put before your eyes a description of the whole figure
and substance of man as regards his movements by means of his limbs.
And thus if it please our great author I will demonstrate the nature of
man and his habits in the way I describe his form.
[Sidenote: On the Human Body]
78.
And thou, O man, who wilt gaze in this work of mine on the marvellous
works of nature, if thou thinkest it would be an act of wickedness to
destroy it, think how much more wicked it is to take the life of a man;
and if this his structure appears to thee a miraculous work of art,
remember that {32} it is nothing in comparison with the soul which
inhabits this structure; for verily, whatever it may be, it is divine.
Let it, then, dwell in His work and at His good will, and let not thy
rage or malice destroy so great a thing as life, for he who does not
value it does not deserve it.
[Sidenote: The Experimental Method]
79.
By these rules thou wilt be able to distinguish falsehood from truth by
means of which knowledge men aim at possible things with greater
moderation; and do not veil thyself in ignorance, for the result of
this would be that thou wouldst be ineffectual and fall into melancholy
and despair.
[Sidenote: Of Navigation below the Waters]
80.
How by the aid of a machine many may remain for some time under water.
And how and why I do not describe my method of remaining under water
and of living long without food; and I do not publish nor divulge these
things by reason of the evil nature of man, who would use them for
assassinations at the bottom of the sea and to destroy and sink ships,
together with the men on board of them; and notwithstanding I will
teach other things which are not dangerous....
[Sidenote: Of Physiognomy]
81.
I will not dwell on false physiognomy and chiromancy {33} because there
is no truth in them, and this is manifest because chimeras of this kind
have no scientific foundation. It is true that the lineaments of the
face partly reveal the character of men, their vices and temperaments;
but in the face: (a) the features which separate the cheeks from the
lips, and the nostrils and cavities of the eyes, are strongly marked if
they belong to cheerful and good-humoured men, and if they are slightly
marked it denotes that the men to whom they belong are given to
meditation, (b) Those whose features stand out in great relief and
depth are brutal and bad-tempered, and reason little, (c) Those who
have strongly marked lines between the eyebrows are bad-tempered, (d)
Those who have strongly marked lines on the forehead are men full of
concealed or unconcealed bewailing.
And we can reason thus about many features. But the hand? You will
find that whole armies perished in the same hour by the sword in which
no two men had similar marks in their hands, and the same argument
applies to a shipwreck.
[Sidenote: Of Pain]
82.
Nature has placed in the front part of man, as he moves, all those
parts which when struck cause him to feel pain; and this is felt in the
joints of the legs, the forehead and the nose, and has been so devised
for the preservation of man, because {34} if such pain were not felt in
these limbs they would be destroyed by the many blows they receive.
[Sidenote: Why Plants do not feel Pain]
83.
While nature has ordained that animals should feel pain in order that
the instruments which might be liable to be maimed or marred by motion
may be preserved, plants do not come into collision with the objects
which are before them; whence pain is not a necessity for them, and
therefore when they are broken they do not feel pain, as animals do.
84.
Lust is the cause of generation.
Appetite is the support of life.
Fear or timidity is the prolongation of life.
Pain is the preserver of the instrument (of the human frame).
[Sidenote: Fear]
85.
Just as courage is the danger of life, so is fear its safeguard.
[Sidenote: Body and Soul]
86.
Let him who wishes to see how the soul inhabits its body observe what
use the body makes of its daily habitation; that is to say, if the soul
is full of confusion and disorder the body will be kept in disorder and
confusion by the soul.
{35}
87.
The soul can never be corrupted with the corruption of the body, but it
is like the wind which causes the sound of the organ, and which ceases
to produce a good effect when a pipe is spoilt.
[Sidenote: Memory]
88.
Every loss which we incur leaves behind it vexation in the memory, save
the greatest loss of all, that is, death, which annihilates the memory,
together with life.
[Sidenote: Spirit]
89.
Our body is subject to Heaven, and Heaven is subject to the Spirit.
[Sidenote: Sense and Reason]
90.
The senses are earthly; reason lies outside them when in contemplation.
91.
Where most feeling exists, there amongst martyrs is the greatest martyr.
92.
That which can be lost cannot be deemed riches. Virtue is our true
wealth and the true reward of its possessor; it cannot be lost, it
never deserts us until life leaves us. Hold property and external
riches with fear; they often leave their possessor scorned and mocked
at for having lost them.
{36}
[Sidenote: Flight of Time]
93.
Men wrongly lament the flight of time, blaming it for being too swift;
they do not perceive that its passage is sufficiently long, but a good
memory, which nature has given to us, causes things long past to seem
present.
[Sidenote: Illusions]
94.
Our intellect does not judge events which happened at various intervals
of time in their true proportion, because many things which happened
years ago appear recent and close to the present, and often recent
things appear old and seem to belong to our past childhood. The eye
does likewise with regard to distant objects which in the light of the
sun appear to be close to the eye, and many objects which are close
appear to be remote.
95.
Let us not lack ways and means of dividing and measuring these our
wretched days, which we ought to take pleasure in spending and living
not vainly and not without praise, nor without leaving any memory in
the minds of men, so that this our miserable existence may not be spent
in vain.
[Sidenote: Virtuous Life]
96.
The age which flies glides by in stealth and deceives others; and
nothing is more swift than the years, and he who sows virtue reaps
glory.
{37}
[Sidenote: Sleep and Death]
97.
O sleeper, what is sleep? Sleep is like unto death. Why dost thou not
work in such wise that after death thou mayst have the semblance of
perfect life, just as during life thou hast in thy sleep the semblance
of the hapless dead?
98.
The water you touch in a river is the last of that which has gone, and
the first of that which is coming: so it is with time present.
99.
A long life is a life well spent.
[Sidenote: Life]
100.
As a well spent day affords happy sleep, so does a life profitably
employed afford a happy death.
[Sidenote: Time the Destroyer]
101.
O time, consumer of things! O envious age! Thou dost destroy all
things, and consumest all things with the hard teeth of old age, little
by little in a slow death. Helen, when she looked in her mirror and
saw the withered wrinkles made in her face by old age, wept, and
wondered why she had twice been ravished. O time, devourer of things!
O envious age, by which all is consumed!
{38}
[Sidenote: On Fault-finders]
102.
There exists among the foolish a certain sect of hypocrites who
continually seek to deceive themselves and others, but others more than
themselves, though in reality they deceive themselves more than others.
And these are they who blame the painters who study on feast-days the
things which relate to the true knowledge of the forms of the works of
nature, and sedulously strive to acquire knowledge of these things to
the best of their ability.
But such fault-finders pass over in silence the fact that this is the
true manner of knowing the Artificer of such great and marvellous
things, and that this is the true way in which to love so great an
Inventor! For great love proceeds from the perfect knowledge of the
thing loved; and if you do not know it you can love it but little or
not at all; and if you love it for the gain which you anticipate
obtaining from it and not for its supreme virtue, you are like the dog
which wags its tail and shows signs of joy, leaping towards him who can
give him a bone. But if you knew the virtue of a man you would love
him more--if that virtue was in its place.
[Sidenote: Prayer]
103.
I obey Thee, Lord, first for the love which in reason I ought to bear
Thee; secondly because Thou {39} hast the power to shorten or prolong
the lives of men.
104.
Thou, O God, dost sell us all good things at the price of labour.
105.
And many make a trade deceiving the foolish multitude, and if no one
comes to unmask their deceits, they punish it.
106.
Pharisees,--that is to say, holy friars.
107.
Nothing can be written by means of new researches.
[Sidenote: Patience]
108.
Patience serves against insults as clothes do against the cold; since
if you multiply your clothes as the cold increases, the cold cannot
hurt you. Similarly, let thy patience increase under great offences,
and they will not be able to hurt your feelings.
[Sidenote: Advice to a Speaker]
109.
Words which do not satisfy the ear of the listener will always weary or
annoy him; and you will often see signs of this in such listeners in
their frequent yawns. Therefore, you who speak before men whose good
opinion you seek, when you {40} observe such signs of vexation, shorten
your speech or vary your argument; and if you do otherwise, then
instead of the favour you seek you will incur hate and hostility.
And if you would see what gives pleasure to a man speak to him on
various themes, and when you see him intent, without yawning, or
contracting his brow, or performing other actions, then be certain that
the matter of which you are speaking is such as affords him pleasure.
[Sidenote: Advice]
110.
Here is a thing which the more it is needed the more it is rejected:
and this is advice, which is unwillingly heeded by those who most need
it, that is to say, by the ignorant.
Here is a thing which the more you fear and avoid it the nearer you
approach to it, and this is misery; the more you flee from it the more
miserable and restless you will become. When the work comes up to the
standard of the judgement, this is a bad sign for the judgement; and
when the work excels the standard of the judgement, this is the worst
sign, as occurs when a man marvels at having worked so well; and when
the standard of the judgement exceeds that fulfilled by the work, this
is a sign of perfection; and if the man is young and be thus disposed,
he will without doubt grow into an excellent workman: he will only
accomplish few works. But they will {41} be of a quality which will
compel men to contemplate their perfection with admiration.
[Sidenote: Proverbs]
111.
Nothing should be so greatly feared as empty fame.
This empty fame issues from vices.
A broken vase of clay can be remodelled, but this is no longer possible
when it has been baked.
The vow is born when hope dies.
The beautiful is not always the good. And the fine talkers labour
under this error without any reason.
He who wishes to grow rich in a day will be hanged in a year.
The memory of benefits is a frail defence against ingratitude.
Reprove your friend in secret and praise him in public.
He who fears dangers will not perish by them.
The evil which does me no harm is like the good which in no wise avails
me.
He who offends others is not himself secure.
Be not false about the past.
Folly is the shield of lies, just as unreadiness is the defence of
poverty.
Where there is liberty, there is no rule.
{42}
Here is a thing which the more it is heeded the more it is
spurned,--advice.
It is ill to praise, and worse to blame, the thing which you do not
understand.
On Mount Etna the words freeze in your mouth and you make ice of them.
Threats are the only weapons of the threatened man.
Ask advice of him who governs himself well.
Justice needs power, intelligence and will, and is like the Queen Bee.
Not to punish evil is equivalent to authorizing it.
He who takes the snake by the tail will be bitten by it.
The pit will fall in upon him who digs it.
He who does not restrain voluptuousness is in the category of the
beasts.
You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.
He who thinks little errs much.
It is easier to contend at the first than at the last.
No counsel is more sincere than that given on ships which are in danger.
Let him who acts on the advice of the young expect loss.
You grow in reputation like bread in the hands of a child.
{43}
Cannot beauty and utility be combined--as appears in citadels and men?
He who is without fear often incurs great losses, and is often full of
regret.
If you governed your body according to virtue you would not live in
this world.
Where good fortune enters, envy lays siege to her and attacks her, and
when she departs sorrow and regret remain behind.
When beauty exists side by side with ugliness, the one seems more
powerful, owing to the presence of the other.
He who walks straight rarely falls.
O miserable race of man! of how many things you make yourself the slave
for the sake of money!
The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should
appear good in his own eyes.
To speak well of a bad man is the same as speaking ill of a good man.
Truth ordains that lying tongues shall be punished by the lie.
He who does not value life does not deserve it.
The beautiful works of mortals pass and do not endure.
Labour flies with fame almost hidden in its arm.
The gold in ingots is refined in the fire.
{44}
The shuttle says: I will continue to move until the cloth is woven.
Everything that is crooked is straightened.
Great ruin proceeds from a slight cause.
Fine gold is recognized when it is tested.
The image will correspond to the die.
The wall will fall on him who scrapes it.
Ivy lives long.
To the traitor, death is life, because if he makes use of others he is
no longer believed.
When fortune comes seize her in front firmly, because behind she is
bald.
Constancy means, not he who begins, but he who perseveres.
I do not yield to obstacles.
Every obstacle is overcome by resolve.
He who is chained to a star does not change.
[Sidenote: Truth]
112.
Fire destroys falsehood,--that is to say, sophistry,--and rehabilitates
truth, scattering the darkness.
Fire must be represented as the consumer of all sophistry and the
revealer of truth, because it is light and scatters darkness which
conceals all essences.