The universal Soul is beautiful also; but she is less beautiful than
(Saturn), because she is his image, and because, however beautiful she
may by nature be, she is still more beautiful when contemplating her
principle. Therefore if the universal Soul--to use clearer terms--and
if even Venus (as subordinate to him, Jupiter), possess beauty, what
must be that of Intelligence? If by their nature the universal Soul and
Venus receive their beauty from some other principle, from whom would
they derive the beauty they intrinsically possess, and that which they
acquire? As to us, we are beautiful when we belong to ourselves; and we
are ugly when we lower ourselves to an inferior nature. Again, we are
beautiful when we know ourselves, and ugly when we ignore ourselves. It
is therefore in the intelligible world that beauty shines and radiates.
Are these considerations sufficient for a clear knowledge of the
intelligible world, or must we engage in a further effort to accomplish
this?