What is my conclusion? God makes one animal for eating, and another for service in farming, another to produce cheese, and others for different uses of a like nature, for which there is no need of understanding impressions and being able to distinguish them; but He brought man into the world to take cognizance of Himself and His works, and not only to take cognizance but also to interpret them.
Therefore, it is beneath man's dignity to begin and to end where the irrational creatures do: he must rather begin where they do and end where Nature has ended in forming us; and Nature ends in contemplation and understanding, and a way of life in harmony with Nature.
See to it then that you do not die without taking cognizance of these things.
In looking at the purpose and design of my own nature, I also learn more about Providence, the purpose and design that stands behind all of Nature. The workings of my intellect are expressions of the workings of Universal Intellect.
Each type of creature is made to play a certain part, according to its particular identity. Where there is a body, it will be subject to certain physical laws of motion and change. Where there is life, it will participate in various degrees of growth, nutrition, and reproduction. Where there is awareness, there will be forms of sensation, memory, and desire.
And where there is a certain deeper sort of awareness, that of a mind, there will be the activities of understanding and of will. As I wonder what sort of creature I might be, the fact that I am even posing the question already provides me with the answer.
What I was made for is revealed in what I am, or more precisely in who I am, since it is the very character of a person to be conscious of both himself and his world. I may possess all sorts of other functions, yet these must be subject to my reason and choice, which is given a mastery over circumstances because it first has a mastery over itself.
It is my essence to be a thinking creature, and not just a creature that walks or sits, wakes or sleeps, eats or drinks. Whatever else it is that I may do, it is the mind that guides the direction of use. Whatever else may come my way, it is my mind that discovers its value.
Such a state of affairs, however, does not arise automatically; any act of consciousness must, by definition, be conscious. My understanding gives me no suggestions without being actively engaged, and it offers no principles without being deliberately practiced.
Just as a strong and healthy body is acquired through habitual nurture and exercise, so a strong and healthy mind is perfected through constant learning and reflection. There is no quick-fix solution, no instant formula.
As I look over my day, can I now honestly say that I have been first attending to the quality of my understanding? Or am I just blindly using, without providing any meaning and method? I am sad to say that there is often very much doing, but far too little interpreting. That’s fine for an animal, but not for a man.
I am prone to offering cheap excuses. “Sometimes I just need to stop thinking, and get the job done!”
By all means, let me avoid irrelevant abstractions and pointless worries; such diversions are hardly rational. At the same time, let me remember that there can never be any practical benefit in life without the application of sober prudence. The job won’t get done in the absence of some sound thinking, because I won’t know what the job is to begin with.
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