The Divine Letters of the Great Marsilio Ficino, Volume 1

TO THE GREAT COSIMO DE’ MEDICI.

I will come to you most willingly as soon as I am able. For what could be more pleasing to me than to stay at Careggi The Medici family’s country villa. Ficino often called it the "Field of the Graces."—that is, in the field of the Graces—together with the great Cosimo, the father of the Graces? In the meantime, hear in a few words which path, according to the Platonists Followers of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, whose works Ficino was rediscovering and translating for the Medici circle., is the most suitable to lead us to happiness. And although I think it is unnecessary to show the road to one who has already reached its end, I have nevertheless resolved to always obey every desire of yours, whether I am far away or present.

All men naturally desire to do well, which is to say, to live well. They will live well if they possess a sufficient number of goods. These goods are: wealth, health, beauty, vigor, nobility of lineage, honors, power, and prudence; and beyond these, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance, and, above all others, Wisdom. This last quality, without any doubt, contains within itself and embraces the entire power of that happiness which consists in a prosperous and favorable achievement of the desired goal. It is Wisdom Sapienza (Wisdom): In Ficino’s philosophy, this is the highest form of knowledge, connecting the human mind to the divine. that grants this achievement in every faculty or art.

And it is undoubtedly true that if musicians are learned in their art, they will be very well able to acquire everything required for playing any instrument; and Grammarians, being well-trained in that art, will very well know all that pertains to writing and explaining the secrets of others. Similarly, wise pilots Referring to ship captains or navigators, a common classical metaphor for those who guide the "ship of state" or the soul. more easily...