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Ficino, Marsilio – Selected Letters

From a letter from Marsilio Ficino to Giovanni Nesi,  greetings.

Were there not within us divine power, and were our minds not of heavenly origin, we could in no way acknowledge the insufficiency of mortal things and we should certainly never reason beyond, or pursue anything above, the physical level. No one would exert himself at all, even in the smallest matter, to resist the body for we should be satisfied with earthly riches.

And all men, or certainly the great majority, would rest content with this middle region of the universe as their natural birthplace and home. But as it is, since our condition is very different, I believe-and with no empty faith- that we are of divine origin.

Yet, if we are divine, why do we often lead a life similar to that of a beast? It is because the natural condition of this region determines that we use sense like an animal long before we use reason like men.