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truly choice-worthy, the truly desirable, whose pursuit is an active and substantial reality, remaining forever with those who pursue it, separated from every concept related to vanity. 5.355 For I looked, he says, to see wisdom. But that I might see precisely what was longed for, I first saw both distraction and foolishness. For from comparison with its opposite, the contemplation of what is sought becomes more precise. And he also calls wisdom counsel, saying: What man is there who shall come after the counsel, for all the things which it has done? He teaches, therefore, what human wisdom is: that to follow true wisdom, which he also calls counsel, the maker of things that truly are and have substance and are not contemplated in vanity—this is the chief point of human wisdom; and true wisdom and counsel, according to my word, is nothing other than the forethought wisdom of the universe. This is that in which God made all things, as the prophet says, that in wisdom You made all things; and Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, in whom all things were made and ordered. If, then, human wisdom is this, to be in contemplation of the true works of true wisdom and counsel, and if the work of that counsel, that is, of wisdom, according to my word, is incorruptibility and the blessedness of the soul and courage and justice and prudence and every name and concept understood according to virtue, perhaps we are led 5.356 consequently to the knowledge of good things. For since I saw these things, he says, and as if on a scale I distinguished being from non-being, I found the difference between wisdom and foolishness, such as would be found by comparing light with darkness. And it seems to me fitting to use the example of light for the judgment of the good. For since darkness is by its own nature non-existent (for if there were not something blocking the sun's ray, there would be no darkness), but light itself exists on its own, being perceived in its own substance, he shows by the example that evil does not subsist in itself, but has its subsistence by the privation of the good; but the good is always in the same state, permanent and fixed, not subsisting by the privation of anything preceding it. But what is conceived as contrary to the good does not exist in substance; for what does not exist on its own, does not exist at all; for evil is a privation of being, and not an existence. Therefore, the difference between light and darkness is the same as that between wisdom and foolishness. For he includes all that is good under the name of wisdom, and by foolishness he interprets the whole nature of evil. But what is the profit for us from admiring the good, if some way to its possession is not also shown by the teacher? How, then, is it possible for us also to come to share in the good? Let us hear the teacher. The eyes of the wise man, 5.357 he says, are in his head. What does this mean? For is there any animal at all that has the sense organs of the eyes outside the head, whether you speak of aquatic or terrestrial or aerial? For in all of them the eye is set before the rest of the body and is established in the head of those that have a head. How then does he say here that only the head of the wise man is furnished with eyes? Or does he by this statement entirely signify that there is a certain analogy between the things contemplated in the soul and the parts of the body? And just as in the physical formation the preeminent part of the whole is called the head, so also in the soul the ruling and leading part is understood as the head; and in the way we call the base of the foot the heel, so there would also be a base of the soul, through which it touches its connaturality with the body, from which it sends its perceptive power and energy into the subject. Therefore, when the discerning and contemplative power of the soul is occupied with sensible things, the nature of the eyes is transferred to its heels, through which it sees the things below, remaining unable to see the lofty sights. But if, having recognized the vanity of the things below, it should lead its sight up to its own

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ὄντως αἱρετόν, τὸ ἀληθῶς ἐπιθυμητόν, οὗ ἡ σπουδὴ πρᾶγμά ἐστιν ἐνεργόν τε καὶ ἐνυπόστατον, εἰς ἀεὶ παραμένον τοῖς μετιοῦσι, πάσης τῆς κατὰ τὸ μάταιον ἐννοίας κεχωρισμένον. 5.355 Ἐπέβλεψα γὰρ ἐγώ, φησί, τοῦ ἰδεῖν σοφίαν. ὡς δ' ἂν ἀκριβῶς ἴδοιμι τὸ ποθούμενον, εἶδον πρότερον καὶ τὴν παραφορὰν καὶ τὴν ἀφροσύνην. ἐκ γὰρ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀντικεί μενον παραθέσεως ἀκριβεστέρα γίνεται τῶν σπουδαζομένων ἡ θεωρία. τὴν δὲ σοφίαν καὶ βουλὴν ὀνομάζει λέγων· Ὅτι τίς ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ἐπελεύσεται ὀπίσω τῆς βουλῆς, τὰ ὅσα ἐποίησεν αὕτη; διδάσκει τοίνυν τίς ἐστιν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη σοφία, ὅτι τὸ ἐπακολουθῆσαι τῇ ὄντως σοφίᾳ, ἣν καὶ βουλὴν ὀνομάζει ποιητικὴν τῶν ἀληθῶς ὄντων τε καὶ ὑφεστώτων καὶ μὴ ἐν ματαιότητι θεωρουμένων, τοῦτο τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας ἐστὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον· ἡ δὲ ὄντως σοφία καὶ ἡ βουλὴ οὐδὲν ἄλλο κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον ἐστὶ πλὴν τῆς τοῦ παντὸς προεπινοου μένης σοφίας. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι Πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας, Χριστὸς δὲ θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεοῦ σοφία, ἐν ᾗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο καὶ διεκοσμήθη. εἰ οὖν τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη σοφία τὸ ἐν περινοίᾳ τῶν ἀληθινῶν ἔργων τῆς ὄντως σοφίας τε καὶ βουλῆς γενέσθαι, ἔργον δὲ τῆς βουλῆς ἐκείνης ἤτοι τῆς σοφίας κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον ἡ ἀφθαρσία ἐστὶν ἥ τε τῆς ψυχῆς μακαριότης καὶ ἡ ἀνδρεία καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἡ φρόνησις καὶ πᾶν τὸ κατ' ἀρετὴν νοούμενον ὄνομά τε καὶ νόημα, τάχα δι' ἀκολούθου τῇ γνώσει τῶν ἀγαθῶν προσαγό 5.356 μεθα. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ταῦτα εἶδον, φησί, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν ζυγῷ διέκρινα τὸ ὂν τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, εὗρον τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς ἀφροσύνης, οἵαπερ ἂν εὑρεθείη φωτὸς ἀντεξεταζο μένου πρὸς ζόφον. καί μοι δοκεῖ προσηκόντως τῷ κατὰ τὸ φῶς ὑποδείγματι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ χρήσασθαι κρίσιν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ σκότος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει ἀνύπαρκτον (εἰ γὰρ μὴ εἴη τι τὸ ἀντιφράσσον τὴν ἡλιακὴν ἀκτῖνα, σκότος οὐκ ἔσται), τὸ δὲ φῶς αὐτὸ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ ἐστιν ἐν ἰδίᾳ οὐσίᾳ κατανοούμενον, δείκνυσι τῷ ὑποδείγματι, ὅτι ἡ κακία καθ' ἑαυτὴν οὐχ ὑφέστηκεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ στερήσει τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ παρυφ ίσταται, τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν ἀεὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχει μόνιμόν τε καὶ πάγιον καὶ οὐδεμιᾷ τινος προηγουμένου στερήσει παρυφιστά μενον. τὸ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τῷ ἀγαθῷ νοούμενον κατ' οὐσίαν οὐκ ἔστιν· ὃ γὰρ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐδὲ ἔστιν ὅλως· στέρησις γὰρ τοῦ ὄντος ἐστὶν ἡ κακία καὶ οὐχὶ ὕπαρξις. ἴση τοίνυν ἡ διαφορὰ τοῦ φωτὸς πρὸς τὸ σκότος καὶ τῆς σοφίας πρὸς ἀφροσύνην ἐστίν. ἀπὸ μέρους γὰρ ἅπαν τὸ ἀγαθὸν περιλαμβάνει τῷ τῆς σοφίας ὀνόματι καὶ τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ πᾶσαν κακοῦ φύσιν συνερμηνεύει. Ἀλλὰ τί κέρδος ἡμῖν ἐκ τοῦ θαυμάσαι τὸ ἀγαθόν, εἰ μή τις καὶ ἔφοδος παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου πρὸς τὴν τούτου κτῆσιν ὑποδειχθείη; πῶς οὖν ἔστι καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ τοῦ καλοῦ μετου σίᾳ γενέσθαι, ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ διδάσκοντος. Τοῦ σοφοῦ, 5.357 φησίν, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ. τί ταῦτα λέγει; ἔστι γάρ τι ζῷον ὅλως, ὃ ἔξω τῆς κεφαλῆς ἔχει τὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αἰσθητήρια, κἂν ἔνυδρον εἴπῃς κἂν χερσαῖον κἂν ἐναέριον; ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ λοιποῦ προβέβληται σώματος καὶ τῇ κεφαλῇ τῶν ἐχόντων κεφαλὴν ἐγκαθίδρυται. πῶς οὖν ἐνταῦθα μόνου λέγει τοῦ σοφοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν ὠμματῶσθαι; ἢ τοῦτο πάντως ὑποσημαίνει τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι ἀναλογία τίς ἐστι τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ θεωρουμένων πρὸς τὰ τοῦ σώματος μέρη; καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς σωματικῆς διαπλάσεως τὸ προέχον τοῦ ὅλου κεφαλὴ ὀνομάζεται, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ ἡγεμονικόν τε καὶ προτεταγμένον ἀντὶ κεφαλῆς νοεῖται· καὶ ὃν τρόπον πτέρναν τὴν τοῦ ποδὸς βάσιν προσα γορεύομεν, οὕτως ἂν εἴη τις καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς βάσις, δι' ἧς ἐφάπτεται τῆς συμφυΐας τοῦ σώματος, ὅθεν τὴν αἰσθητικὴν δύναμίν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ ἐνίησιν. ὅταν τοίνυν ἡ διορατική τε καὶ θεωρητικὴ τῆς ψυχῆς δύναμις πρὸς τὰ αἰσθητὰ τὴν ἀσχολίαν ἔχῃ, εἰς τὰς πτέρνας αὐτῆς ἡ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν φύσις ἀντιμεθίσταται, δι' ὧν τὰ κάτω βλέπει, τῶν ὑψηλῶν θεαμάτων ἀθέατος μένουσα. εἰ δὲ γνωρίσασα τῶν ὑποκειμένων τὸ μάταιον ἀναγάγοι τὰς ὄψεις ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτῆς