Which state of mind Aristotle doth
excellently express himself, that it ought not to be called
virtuous, but divine. His words are these: Immanitati autem
consentaneum est opponere eam, quae supra humanitatem est, heroicam
sive divinam virtutem; and a little after, Nam ut ferae neque vitium
neque virtus est, swic neque Dei: sed hic quidem status altius
quiddam virtute est, ille aluid quiddam a vitio. And therefore we
may see what celsitude of honour Plinius Secundus attributeth to
Trajan in his funeral oration, where he said, "That men needed to
make no other prayers to the gods, but that they would continue as
good lords to them as Trajan had been;" as if he had not been only
an imitation of divine nature, but a pattern of it. But these be
heathen and profane passages, having but a shadow of that divine
state of mind, which religion and the holy faith doth conduct men
unto, by imprinting upon their souls charity, which is excellently
called the bond of perfection, because it comprehendeth and
fasteneth all virtues together.
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