Miscellanies in Prose and Verse

But there is nothing so sacred that sacrilegious hands will not attempt to violate. Divine natures, however, are not less elevated simply because there are those who will attack a magnitude placed far beyond their reach. The invulnerable is not that which cannot be assaulted, but that which cannot be injured. And this is the mark by which a wise man may be known. Can it indeed be doubted that a power is more certainly strong if it cannot be conquered, rather than merely not being attacked? For strength untried is dubious; but the force is deservedly considered most sure if it baffles all attacks.

Hence, the wise man is of a more excellent nature if no injury can hurt him than if he were simply beyond the reach of injurious attempts. As a wise man of this kind is subject to no injury, it is of no consequence how many darts are hurled against him, since he cannot be penetrated by any. Just as the hardness of certain stones is unconquerable by iron; and just as some things cannot be consumed by fire, but preserve their strength and mode of existence amidst surrounding flames. Thus, too, rocks swelling on high break the sea and do not show any marks of its rage, though for so many ages they have been lashed by its waves.

But it may be said, will there not be someone who will try to do an injury to the wise man?