Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Soleat
Philo Judaeus
The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, volume 1. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.
But the proper honour to be paid to the mind is first to be honoured on account of what is useful, and not on account of what is pleasant; but all things proceeding from virtue are useful. And the honour proper to be paid to the outward sense is when we do not allow ourselves to be carried away by its impetuosity towards the external objects of the outward senses, but compel it to be curved by the mind, which knows how to govern and guide the irrational powers in us.
If, therefore, each of these things, the outward sense and [*](Genesis iv. 23. ) [*](Genesis xxvii. 45. ) [*](Exodus xx. 12. )
v.1.p.255
the mind, receive the honour which I have been describing, then it follows of necessity that I, who use them both, must derive advantage from them. But if, carrying your language away a long distance from the mind and from the outward sense, you think your father, that is to say, the world which produced you, and your mother, wisdom, by means of which the universe was completed, worthy of honour, you yourself shall be well treated; for neither does God, who is full of everything, nor sublime and perfect knowledge, want anything. So that he who is inclined to pay proper attention to them, benefits not those who receive his attentions and who are in no need of anything, but himself most exceedingly.