"Without common sense we should be like an inexperienced gardener, who,
for want of knowledge, would allow the tares to grow and would neglect
the plants whose function is to nourish man.

"In order to conform to the habit of judging with common sense, one ought
first to lay down the following principle:

"No fact can exist, unless there is a sufficient motive to determine
its nature.

"It is when operating on the elements furnished us by common sense that
we are able to discern the quality of the object of our attention.

"One day, a sage, whom people gladly consulted, was asked by what means
he had learned to know so well the exact proportion of things, so that he
never failed to attribute to them their real value.

"'Why' they added, 'can you foresee so exactly the evil and direct us to
that which is right and just?'

"And the superstitious people added:

"'Are you not in communication with the spirits, which float in space,
which come from the other world?

"Would you not be counseled by voices which we have not the power to
hear, and do you not see things which are visible to you alone?'

"'You are right,' replied the saintly man, smiling: