Knowledge And Virtue

Τί τα κατά σαυτὸν ἀγνοών, ἄνθρωπε, τα ὑπὲρ σαυτὸν ζητείς ; Καὶ τί  λέγω τα κατά σαυτόν ;Ἔν τῶν ἐν χερσί μοι ἐρμήνευσον, καὶ τότε τὰ ὑπὲρ σαυτὸν πολυπραγμονοῦντα οὐκ αἰτιάσομαι. Τὸ πῦρ ἀφ' οὗ πυγάζουσιν αἱ τέχναι, οὐ μόνην ἀπὸ σιδήρου καὶ χαλχοῦ καὶ λίθων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ ὑδάτων καὶ ξύλων ἐκπηδᾷν πέφυκε. Διήγησαι οὖν μοι τὸ θαῠμα· ἇρ' ἔγκειται τῷ ξύλῳ; καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἀναλίκει τοῦτο; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔγκετιαι· πῶς οὐν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τίκτεται; Εἰ τοίνυν τὸ πῦρ, οὖ ἄνευ σχεδὸν οὐδὲν ἀξιόλογον μηχανῶνται ἄνθρωποι, ἐπίκουρον γάρ ἐστι ψύχους, σκότου δ' ἀλεξιφάρμακον, συνεργὸν δ' εἰς πᾶσαν τέχνην καὶ ἐπιστήμην, οὐδεὶς δύναται φράσαι πῶς ἐμφωλεύει μὲν ταῖς ὕλαις, οῡκ ἀναλίσκει δὲ ταύτας· ὅταν δ' εἰς τὸ ἔξω πηδήσῃ, ἀναλωτικὸν γίνεται τῶν τεκουσῶν ὑλῶν· πέπαυσο ἐκεῖνα περιεργαζόμενος, ἂ μήτε ἐφικτά ἐστι, μήτε εἰ ἐφικτὰ ἧν, μέγα τι συντελέσαι πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἠδύνατο. Τί γὰρ πρὸς ἀρετὴν συμβαλεῖτα τὸ περιεργάζεσθαι ἡλίου δρόμον, καὶ σελήνης κύκλον, καὶ ἀστέρωμ θέσιν, καὶ γῆς σχῆμα καὶ διάστημα, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα οἱ δοκησίσοφοι πολυπραγμονοῦντες, τῆς μὲν ἀληθείας καὶ τῆς τῷ ὄντι σοφίας διήμαρτον, εἰς ἀδολεσχίαν δὲ τὸν βίον ἐδαπάνησαν; Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Δεύτερον, Ἐπιστολή Ρ' Παυλῳ Migne PG 78. 544-546

Why, while you neglect yourself, O fellow, do you seek things which are above you? And what shall I say about you? Explain to me a thing which is at hand and then your business with those things which are above I will not accuse. That fire with which artisans work is not only from iron and air and stone, but even from water and wood bursts forth. Explain this wonder to me, then; how is it found in wood? And why does it not burn it up? But if it is not found within, how then is it born from it? If then concerning fire, which deprived of men would hardly be able to contrive anything, for it warms the cold and drives away darkness and is a fellow worker in every labour and knowledge, no one is able to explain how in some way it is concealed in matter and does not destroy those very same things, and then when brought without it does consume those things from which it was brought, cease, I say, to study these things, which you cannot comprehend, nor if you were able would it add greatly to your virtue. For how does it contribute to virtue to labour over the course of the sun and the orbit of the moon and the setting of the stars and the shape of the earth and its regions, and everything else with which those men who appear wise are ever busy, who cut off from truth and wisdom in frivolity consume life? Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 2, Letter 100, To Paul