On Phoenician Letters

perceives the greatest pleasures in the present life while it conceives the notions of origins and principles as things similar to itself. Therefore, since after the origins of right and primary reason—the one thing by which man is most notably distinguished from other living beings—nothing can be given that is more ancient than letters themselves, in which, as on a tablet of secondary reason, the use of speaking and writing is deposited, having been accustomed to be asserted since the creation of the world, I therefore judged that I would be doing a worthwhile task if I were to hand down to posterity the highest origins of both Latin and Greek characters for the greatest delight of minds. This I did after I had set forth, under the guidance of nature and grace, the proofs of the highest reason—which had hitherto remained hidden in the authority of true religion—among the leaders of the earth and their associates. To you alone, however, O ornament of letters, virtue, and religion, as a prelate and prince adorned with the highest gifts of mind, body, and fortune,