Cicero's Tusculan Disputations
off what may be noxious to them when open, and to be a fence to their
repose when sleep closes them, and allows them to rest as if they were
wrapped up in a case. Besides, they are commodiously hidden and
defended by eminences on every side; for on the upper part the eyebrows
turn aside the perspiration which falls from the head and forehead; the
cheeks beneath rise a little, so as to protect them on the lower side;
and the nose is placed between them as a wall of separation.
The hearing is always open, for that is a sense of which we are in need
even while we are sleeping; and the moment that any sound is admitted
by it we are awakened even from sleep. It has a winding passage, lest
anything should slip into it, as it might if it were straight and
simple. Nature also hath taken the same precaution in making there a
viscous humor, that if any little creatures should endeavor to creep
in, they might stick in it as in bird-lime. The ears (by which we mean
the outward part) are made prominent, to cover and preserve the
hearing, lest the sound should be dissipated and escape before the
sense is affected. Their entrances are hard and horny, and their form
winding, because bodies of this kind better return and increase the
sound. This appears in the harp, lute, or horn;[237] and from all
tortuous and enclosed places sounds are returned stronger.
The nostrils, in like manner, are ever open, because we have a
continual use for them; and their entrances also are rather narrow,
lest anything noxious should enter them; and they have always a
humidity necessary for the repelling dust and many other extraneous
bodies. The taste, having the mouth for an enclosure, is admirably
situated, both in regard to the use we make of it and to its security.
LVIII. Besides, every human sense is much more exquisite than those of
brutes; for our eyes, in those arts which come under their judgment,
distinguish with great nicety; as in painting, sculpture, engraving,
and in the gesture and motion of bodies. They understand the beauty,
proportion, and, as I may so term it, the becomingness of colors and
figures; they distinguish things of greater importance, even virtues
and vices; they know whether a man is angry or calm, cheerful or sad,
courageous or cowardly, bold or timorous.
The judgment of the ears is not less admirably and scientifically
contrived with regard to vocal and instrumental music. They distinguish
the variety of sounds, the measure, the stops, the different sorts of
voices, the treble and the base, the soft and the harsh, the sharp and
the flat, of which human ears only are capable to judge. There is
likewise great judgment in the smell, the taste, and the touch; to
indulge and gratify which senses more arts have been invented than I
could wish: it is apparent to what excess we have arrived in the
composition of our perfumes, the preparation of our food, and the
enjoyment of corporeal pleasures.
LIX. Again, he who does not perceive the soul and mind of man, his
reason, prudence, and discernment, to be the work of a divine
providence, seems himself to be destitute of those faculties. While I
am on this subject, Cotta, I wish I had your eloquence: how would you
illustrate so fine a subject! You would show the great extent of the
understanding; how we collect our ideas, and join those which follow to
those which precede; establish principles, draw consequences, define
things separately, and comprehend them with accuracy; from whence you
demonstrate how great is the power of intelligence and knowledge, which
is such that even God himself has no qualities more admirable. How
valuable (though you Academics despise and even deny that we have it)
is our knowledge of exterior objects, from the perception of the senses
joined to the application of the mind; by which we see in what relation
one thing stands to another, and by the aid of which we have invented
those arts which are necessary for the support and pleasure of life.
How charming is eloquence! How divine that mistress of the universe, as
you call it! It teaches us what we were ignorant of, and makes us
capable of teaching what we have learned. By this we exhort others; by
this we persuade them; by this we comfort the afflicted; by this we
deliver the affrighted from their fear; by this we moderate excessive
joy; by this we assuage the passions of lust and anger. This it is
which bound men by the chains of right and law, formed the bonds of
civil society, and made us quit a wild and savage life.
And it will appear incredible, unless you carefully observe the facts,
how complete the work of nature is in giving us the use of speech; for,
first of all, there is an artery from the lungs to the bottom of the
mouth, through which the voice, having its original principle in the
mind, is transmitted. Then the tongue is placed in the mouth, bounded
by the teeth. It softens and modulates the voice, which would otherwise
be confusedly uttered; and, by pushing it to the teeth and other parts
of the mouth, makes the sound distinct and articulate. We Stoics,
therefore, compare the tongue to the bow of an instrument, the teeth to
the strings, and the nostrils to the sounding-board.
LX. But how commodious are the hands which nature has given to man, and
how beautifully do they minister to many arts! For, such is the
flexibility of the joints, that our fingers are closed and opened
without any difficulty. With their help, the hand is formed for
painting, carving, and engraving; for playing on stringed instruments,
and on the pipe. These are matters of pleasure. There are also works of
necessity, such as tilling the ground, building houses, making cloth
and habits, and working in brass and iron. It is the business of the
mind to invent, the senses to perceive, and the hands to execute; so
that if we have buildings, if we are clothed, if we live in safety, if
we have cities, walls, habitations, and temples, it is to the hands we
owe them.
By our labor, that is, by our hands, variety and plenty of food are
provided; for, without culture, many fruits, which serve either for
present or future consumption, would not be produced; besides, we feed
on flesh, fish, and fowl, catching some, and bringing up others. We
subdue four-footed beasts for our carriage, whose speed and strength
supply our slowness and inability. On some we put burdens, on others
yokes. We convert the sagacity of the elephant and the quick scent of
the dog to our own advantage. Out of the caverns of the earth we dig
iron, a thing entirely necessary for the cultivation of the ground. We
discover the hidden veins of copper, silver, and gold, advantageous for
our use and beautiful as ornaments. We cut down trees, and use every
kind of wild and cultivated timber, not only to make fire to warm us
and dress our meat, but also for building, that we may have houses to
defend us from the heat and cold. With timber likewise we build ships,
which bring us from all parts every commodity of life. We are the only
animals who, from our knowledge of navigation, can manage what nature
has made the most violent--the sea and the winds. Thus we obtain from
the ocean great numbers of profitable things. We are the absolute
masters of what the earth produces. We enjoy the mountains and the
plains. The rivers and the lakes are ours. We sow the seed, and plant
the trees. We fertilize the earth by overflowing it. We stop, direct,
and turn the rivers: in short, by our hands we endeavor, by our various
operations in this world, to make, as it were, another nature.
LXI. But what shall I say of human reason? Has it not even entered the
heavens? Man alone of all animals has observed the courses of the
stars, their risings and settings. By man the day, the month, the year,
is determined. He foresees the eclipses of the sun and moon, and
foretells them to futurity, marking their greatness, duration, and
precise time. From the contemplation of these things the mind extracts
the knowledge of the Gods--a knowledge which produces piety, with which
is connected justice, and all the other virtues; from which arises a
life of felicity, inferior to that of the Gods in no single particular,
except in immortality, which is not absolutely necessary to happy
living. In explaining these things, I think that I have sufficiently
demonstrated the superiority of man to other animated beings; from
whence we should infer that neither the form and position of his limbs
nor that strength of mind and understanding could possibly be the
effect of chance.
LXII. I am now to prove, by way of conclusion, that every thing in this
world of use to us was made designedly for us.
First of all, the universe was made for the Gods and men, and all
things therein were prepared and provided for our service. For the
world is the common habitation or city of the Gods and men; for they
are the only reasonable beings: they alone live by justice and law. As,
therefore, it must be presumed the cities of Athens and Lacedaemon were
built for the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, and as everything there is
said to belong to those people, so everything in the universe may with
propriety be said to belong to the Gods and men, and to them alone.
In the next place, though the revolutions of the sun, moon, and all the
stars are necessary for the cohesion of the universe, yet may they be
considered also as objects designed for the view and contemplation of
man. There is no sight less apt to satiate the eye, none more
beautiful, or more worthy to employ our reason and penetration. By
measuring their courses we find the different seasons, their durations
and vicissitudes, which, if they are known to men alone, we must
believe were made only for their sake.
Does the earth bring forth fruit and grain in such excessive abundance
and variety for men or for brutes? The plentiful and exhilarating fruit
of the vine and the olive-tree are entirely useless to beasts. They
know not the time for sowing, tilling, or for reaping in season and
gathering in the fruits of the earth, or for laying up and preserving
their stores. Man alone has the care and advantage of these things.
LXIII. Thus, as the lute and the pipe were made for those, and those
only, who are capable of playing on them, so it must be allowed that
the produce of the earth was designed for those only who make use of
them; and though some beasts may rob us of a small part, it does not
follow that the earth produced it also for them. Men do not store up
corn for mice and ants, but for their wives, their children, and their
families. Beasts, therefore, as I said before, possess it by stealth,
but their masters openly and freely. It is for us, therefore, that
nature hath provided this abundance. Can there be any doubt that this
plenty and variety of fruit, which delight not only the taste, but the
smell and sight, was by nature intended for men only? Beasts are so far
from being partakers of this design, that we see that even they
themselves were made for man; for of what utility would sheep be,
unless for their wool, which, when dressed and woven, serves us for
clothing? For they are not capable of anything, not even of procuring
their own food, without the care and assistance of man. The fidelity of
the dog, his affectionate fawning on his master, his aversion to
strangers, his sagacity in finding game, and his vivacity in pursuit of
it, what do these qualities denote but that he was created for our use?
Why need I mention oxen? We perceive that their backs were not formed
for carrying burdens, but their necks were naturally made for the yoke,
and their strong broad shoulders to draw the plough. In the Golden Age,
which poets speak of, they were so greatly beneficial to the husbandman