Book 1, Chapter 25

60 “Where, then, does this discussion lead? I think we must understand what that power is and where it comes from. Certainly it does not belong to the heart, the blood, the brain, or atoms. Whether it belongs to breath or fire I do not know; unlike those thinkers, I am not ashamed to admit that I do not know what I do not know. But if I could affirm anything about any obscure subject, I would swear to this: whether the soul is breath or fire, it is divine. Tell me, I beg you: does so great a power of memory seem to you to have been sown in the earth or compounded from it beneath this cloudy, darkened sky? If you do not see what it is, at least you see what it is like; if not even that, you certainly see how great it is.

61 “Well then? Do we think there is some capacity in the soul into which, as into a vessel, the things we remember are poured? That is absurd. What bottom, what such shape can the soul be conceived to have, or what capacity so vast? Or do we think the soul receives impressions like wax, and that memory consists of traces of things stamped upon the mind? What traces can there be of words, or of the things themselves? And what immense expanse could there be to reproduce so many things?

“What?

62 “What, after all, is that power which searches out hidden things, which is called invention and discovery? Does it seem to you to have been compounded from this earthly, mortal, perishable nature? Or what of the man who first gave names to everything, an act Pythagoras considered supremely wise? Or the man who brought scattered people together and called them into a shared life; or the man who confined the seemingly infinite sounds of the voice within a few letter signs; or the man who noted the courses, forward movements, and stops of the wandering stars? All were great; greater still were those who discovered crops, clothing, shelter, the refinements of life, and defenses against wild beasts. Tamed and cultivated by them, we passed from the arts of necessity to the more graceful arts. For great delight was won for the ears when the variety and nature of sounds were discovered and harmonized; and we looked up at the stars, both those fixed in particular places and those that wander in name, though not in fact. Whoever saw in his mind their revolutions and all their motions showed that his own soul resembled the soul of the one who had fashioned them in heaven.

63 “For when Archimedes enclosed in a sphere the movements of the moon, the sun, and the five wandering stars, he achieved the same thing as the god of Plato who built the universe in the Timaeus: a single revolution governed movements utterly different in slowness and speed. If this cannot happen in the universe without a god, neither could Archimedes have imitated those same motions in a sphere without divine genius.”

60 “Here’s what I’m getting at in this discussion: we need to grasp the identity and origin of that power. We certainly can’t attribute it to heart, blood, brain, or atoms. Whether breath or fire accounts for it, I don’t know. Those people may be ashamed to acknowledge ignorance; I’m not ashamed to say I don’t know something when I don’t. But if there’s any obscure subject on which I could make a firm assertion, I’d swear to this: a soul made of either breath or fire is divine. Tell me, please, could memory’s enormous power have been sown in the earth, or put together from earth, beneath this murky, cloudy sky? You may not see its identity, but you do see its character. And failing even that, you certainly recognize its greatness.

61 “What then? Do we think there’s some storage space in the soul, so that what we remember is poured into it like something into a jar? That’s absurd. What sort of bottom or shape could we imagine the soul having? How could it possibly hold so much? Or do we think the soul takes impressions like wax, and that memory consists of traces left in the mind by things stamped on it? What traces could words leave, or the things themselves? And how unimaginably large would it have to be to take the impressions of so many things?

“And another thing:

62 “And this ability to uncover what’s hidden—the power we call discovery and invention—what is it? Can you believe it was assembled from matter as earthly, mortal, and short-lived as this? Think of whoever first named everything, a deed Pythagoras thought showed the highest wisdom. Or think of the person who brought scattered humans together and invited them into a common life; the one who reduced the seemingly endless sounds of speech to a small set of letter signs; the one who recorded the wandering stars’ paths, forward movements, and stops. Great people, all of them. Greater still were the discoverers of crops, clothes, shelter, civilized comforts, and defenses against wild beasts. They made us tame and civilized; we then went on from the crafts that supply our needs to the more refined arts. The discovery of the differing characters and kinds of sound, and their combination, brought our ears enormous enjoyment. We also raised our eyes to the stars: some stay fixed in certain spots, while others are only called wanderers and don’t really wander. Whoever mentally grasped all their movements and revolutions proved that his mind resembled the mind that made them in heaven.

63 “Archimedes built the movements of the moon, the sun, and the five wandering stars into a sphere. In doing so he matched Plato’s god, the builder of the universe in the Timaeus. Both made one rotation control movements of very different speeds, some slow and some fast. Such a thing can’t happen in the universe without a god. Likewise, it took divine talent for Archimedes to reproduce those movements in his sphere.”