some exceeding high place of vantage, `O ye sons of men, how long
will ye be of heavy heart? Why love ye vanity and seek after
leasing? Trow ye that this present life, and luxury, and these
shreds of glory, and petty lordship and false prosperity are any
great thing?' -- things which no more belong to those that
possess them than to them that hope for them, nor to these latter
any more than to those who never thought of them: things like the
dust carried and whirled about to and fro by the tempest, or
vanishing as the smoke, or delusive as a dream, or intangible as
a shadow; which, when absent, need not be despaired of by them
that have them not, and, when present, cannot be trusted by their
owners.

"This then was the commandment of the Saviour; this the preaching
of the Prophets and Apostles; in such wise do all the Saints, by
word and deed, constrain us to enter the unerring road of virtue.
And though few walk therein and more choose the broad way that
leadeth to destruction, yet not for this shall the life of this
divine philosophy be minished in fame. But as the sun, rising to
shine on all, doth bounteously send forth his beams, inviting all
to enjoy his light, even so doth our true philosophy, like the
sun, lead with her light those that are her lovers, and warmeth
and brighteneth them. But if any shut their eyes, and will not
behold the light thereof, not for that must the sun be blamed, or
scorned by others: still less shall the glory of his brightness
be dishonoured through their silliness. But while they, self-
deprived of light, grope like blind men along a wall, and fall
into many a ditch, and scratch out their eyes on many a bramble
bush, the sun, firmly established on his own glory, shall
illuminate them that gaze upon his beams with unveiled face.