receives from his son," our opponent will urge, "must in any case
be lees than what the son received from him, because the son owes
to his father the very power of giving. Therefore the father can
never be surpassed in the bestowal of benefits, because the benefit
which surpasses his own is really his." I answer, that some things
derive their first origin from others, yet are greater than those
others; and a thing may be greater than that from which it took its
rise, although without that thing to start from it never could have
grown so great. All things greatly outgrow their beginnings. Seeds
are the causes of all things, and yet are the smallest part of the
things which they produce. Look at the Rhine, or the Euphrates, or
any other famous rivers; how small they are, if you only view them
at the place from whence they take their rise? they gain all that
makes them terrible and renowned as they flow along. Look at the
trees which are tallest if you consider their height, and the
broadest if you look at their thickness and the spread of their
branches; compared with all this, how small a part of them is
contained in the slender fibres of the root? Yet take away their
roots, and no more groves will arise, nor great mountains be
clothed with trees. Temples and cities are supported by their
foundations; yet what is built as the foundation of the entire
building lies out of sight. So it is in other matters; the
subsequent greatness of a thing ever eclipses its origin. I could
never have obtained anything without having previously received the
boon of existence from my parents; yet it does not follow from this
that whatever I obtain is less than that without which I could not
obtain it. If my nurse had not fed me when I was a child, I should
not have been able to conduct any of those enterprises which I now
carry on, both with my head and with my hand, nor should I ever
have obtained the fame which is due to my labours both in peace and