1.The properties of the Rational Soul are these:it sees itself,dis sects itself,moulds itself to its own will,itself reaps its own fruits-whereas the fruits of the vegetable kingdom and the corresponding prod uce of animals are reaped by others,-it wins to its own goal wherever the bounds of life be set.In dancing and acting and such-like arts,if any break occurs,the whole action is rendered imperfect;but the ration al soul in every part and wheresoever taken shews the work set before it fulfilled andall-sufficient for itself,so that it can say:I have to th e full what is my own.
More than this,it goeth about the whole Universe and the void surro unding it and traces its plan,and stretches forth into the infinitude o f Time,and comprehends the cyclical Regeneration of all things,and tak es stock of it,and discerns that our children will see nothing fresh,j ust as our fathers too never saw anything more than we.So that in a man ner the man of forty years,if he have a grain of sense,in view of this sameness has seen all that has been and shall be.Again a property of th e Rational Soul is the love of our neighbour,and truthfulness,and mode sty,and to prize nothing above itself-a characteristic also of Law.In this way then the Reason that is right reason and the Reason that is jus tice are one.
2.Thou wilt think but meanly of charming songs and dances and the pa ncratium,if thou analyze the melodious utterance into its several notes and in the case of each ask thyself:Has this the mastery over me?For t hou wilt recoil from such a confession.So too with the dance,if thou d o the like for each movement and posture.The same holds good of the pan cratium.In fine,virtue and its sphere of action excepted,remember to turn to the component parts,and by analyzing them come to despise them.Bring the same practice to bear on the whole of life also.
3.What a soul is that which is ready to be released from the body at any requisite moment,and be quenched or dissipated or hold together!Bu t the readiness must spring from a man's inner judgment,and not be the result of mere opposition [as is the case with the Christians].It must be associated with deliberation and dignity and,if others too are to be convinced,with nothing like stage-heroics.