But God hath introduced Man to be a spectator of Himself and
of His works; and not a spectator only, but also an interpreter
of them. Wherefore it is a shame for man to begin and to leave
off where the brutes do. Rather he should begin there, and leave
off where Nature leaves off in us: and that is at contemplation,
and understanding, and a manner of life that is in harmony with
herself.
See then that ye die not without being spectators of these
things.

XIV

You journey to Olympia to see the work of Phidias; and each
of you holds it a misfortune not to have beheld these things
before you die. Whereas when there is no need even to take a
journey, but you are on the spot, with the works before you, have
you no care to contemplate and study these?
Will you not then perceive either who you are or unto what
end you were born: or for what purpose the power of contemplation
has been bestowed on you?
"Well, but in life there are some things disagreeable and
hard to bear."
And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched by the
heat? Are you not cramped for room? Have you not to bathe with
discomfort? Are you not drenched when it rains? Have you not to
endure the clamor and shouting and such annoyances as these?
Well, I suppose you set all this over against the splendour of
the spectacle and bear it patiently. What then? have you not
received greatness of heart, received courage, received
fortitude? What care I, if I am great of heart, for aught that
can come to pass? What shall cast me down or disturb me? What
shall seem painful? Shall I not use the power to the end for
which I received it, instead of moaning and wailing over what
comes to pass?

XV

If what philosophers say of the kinship of God and Man be
true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates did:--never,
when asked one's country, to answer, "I am an Athenian or a
Corinthian," but "I am a citizen of the world."

XVI

He that hath grasped the administration of the World, who
hath learned that this Community, which consists of God and men,
is the foremost and mightiest and most comprehensive of all:--
that from God have descended the germs of life, not to my father
only and father's father, but to all things that are born and
grow upon the earth, and in an especial manner to those endowed