As it is better for a part of the body which contains purulent matter to be burnt, than to continue in the state in which it is, thus also it is better for a depraved man to die than to live. The theorems of philosophy are to be enjoyed as much as possible, as if they were ambrosia and nectar. For the pleasure arising from them is genuine, incorruptible, and divine. They are also capable of producing magnanimity; and though they cannot make us eternal beings, yet they enable us to obtain a scientific knowledge of eternal natures. If vigor of sensation is considered by us to be an eligible thing, we should much more strenuously endeavour to obtain prudence; for it is as it were the sensitive vigor of the practical intellect which we contain. And as through the former we are not deceived in sensible perceptions, so through the latter we avoid false reasoning in practical affairs. We shall venerate Divinity in a proper manner, if we render the intellect that is in us pure from all vice, as from a certain stain. A temple, indeed, should be adorned with gifts, but the soul with disciplines. As the lesser mysteries are to be delivered before the greater, thus also discipline must precede philosophy. The fruits of the earth, indeed, are annually imparted, but the fruits of philosophy at every part of the year. As land is especially to be attended to by him who wishes to obtain from it the most excellent fruit, thus also the greatest attention should be paid to the soul, in order that it may produce fruit worthy of its nature. ADDITIONAL NOTES. ADDITIONAL NOTES. P. 50. _Better worth saving than ten thousand corporeal eyes._ Iamblichus here alludes to what Plato says in the seventh book of his Republic, respecting the mathematical disciplines. For he there says, “that the soul through these disciplines has an organ purified and enlightened, which is blinded and buried by studies of another kind, an organ better worth saving than ten thousand eyes, since truth becomes visible through this alone.” P. 58. _That in which the Sirens subsist._