Archidoxa ex Theophrastia : Pars I

...be bound to this or that opinion in philosophyoriginal: "Philosophei" and other natural arts, when it has always been left free to everyone at all times to praise or blame this or that opinion? Why should nature be so tightly closed to us that we are not permitted to search within it just as the ancients did, and explore her secrets? After all, the same Influenceoriginal: "Influentia" — In Renaissance thought, this referred to the spiritual and astrological forces flowing from the heavens into the physical world. and the same nature exist now, and we are just as much human beings as they were from the beginning.

It is no less true that the ancient philosophers left much good to us, such as Hermes Trismegistus, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and others; likewise the physiciansoriginal: "Medici" Hippocrates and Galen, Averroes, and Avicenna, and others. Yet they did not leave so much that nature could be sufficiently understood through them alone. Therefore, the philosophers and physicians who followed have endeavored with great effort and skill to interpret nature even more clearly and to open the "inner eyes" of the human mind. They did this so that man would not wander through the world in such ignorance, for he was created by God to be an observer and investigator of natural secrets.

Because of this, all philosophers have received great praise and thanks from many for their pioneering work—except for Theophrastus Paracelsus. Although he, more than any other philosopher or physician, practiced in the hidden secrets of nature, fathomed them, recognized them, and brought them to light to preserve and promote the long life of man, the majority of people are not only ungrateful to him, but also speak ill of and revile him. This, in my opinion, is due more to a blinded stubbornness than...