De Fuga Et Inventione

For which reason Moses forbids a man to uncover the nakedness of his father or his mother, [*](Leviticus xviii. 7. ) well knowing how great an evil it is not to check and to conceal the offences of the mind and of the external sense, but to bring them forward and display them as though they were good actions.

These are the fountains of errors. We must now examine that of prudence. To this one it is that perseverance, that is to say, Rebecca, descends; [*](Genesis xxiv. 15. ) and after she has filled up the whole vessel of her soul she goes up again, the lawgiver, most strictly in accordance with natural truth, calling her return an ascent; for whoever brings his mind to descend from over-arrogant haughtiness is raised to a great height of virtue.

For Moses says, "And having gone down to the fountain, she filled her ewer, and went up again." This is that divine wisdom from which all the particular sciences are irrigated, and all the souls which love contemplation and are filled with a love of what is most excellent;