The State Of The Impious

Quoniam fumus flatus est in naribus nostris, et sermo scintilla ad commovendum cor nostrum: qua extincta, cinis erit corpus nostrum, et spiritus diffundetur tamquam mollis aër; et transibit vita nostra tamquam vestigium nubis, et sicut nebula dissolvetur quae fugata est a radiis solis, et a calore illius aggravata. Et nomen nostrum oblivionem accipiet per tempus, et nemo memoriam habebit operum nostrorum. Umbrae enim transitus est tempus nostrum... Notandum autem, quod vita et status impiorum dicitur esse fumus propter rationalius obcaecationem, infra eodem capitulo: Excaecavit eos malitia eorum; item ad Romanos primo: Obscuratum est insipens cor eorum. Assimilatur flatui propter inquietam irascibilis perturbationem, Isaiae quinquagesimo septimo: Impii quasi mare fervens; scintillae, propter concupiscibilis inflammationem, Ecclesiastici vigesimo tertio: Anima calida quasi ignis ardens non exstinguetur; aeri, propter intentionis vacuitatem; cineri propter operum infructuositatem, infra tertio: Opera eorum inutilia; nubi densiori, propter gratiae oppositionem; nebulae leviori, propter mentis elevationem sive elationem; umbrae, propter exteriorem simulationem. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Librum Sapientiae, Caput II Source: Here, 365c

Because the breath in our nostrils is like smoke, and reason is a spark made by the beating of our hearts, which extinguished, our bodies shall be ash, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air, and our lives shall pass by like scraps of cloud and dissolve like a mist chased away by the rays of the sun and by its heat suppressed. Our name will be forgotten in time and no one will remember our deeds. Like a shadow our time passes away... 1 It should be noted that the life and state of the impious is said to be 'smoke' because of the blindness of their reason, whence below in the same chapter: 'Their wickedness has blinded them.' 2 Likewise in the first chapter of Romans: 'Their foolish hearts have been darkened.' 3 And 'like breath' because of the disturbing troubles of the irascible passions. In the fifty seventh chapter of Isaiah: 'The impious are like a boiling sea.' 4 'Sparks' because of the inflammation of the concupiscible passions. In the twenty third chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 'The hot soul is like a burning fire that is not extinguished.' 5 'Air' because of the emptiness of their desires. 'Ash' because of the fruitlessness of their works, whence here below in chapter three: 'Their works are useless.' 6 'Clouds,' those which are more dense 7 because of the opposition to grace, and as lighter ones, 8 because of the elevation or elation of their minds, and 'shadows' because of the exterior simulation of life. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Wisdom, Chapter 2 1 Wisd 2.2-5 2 Wisd 2.21 3 Rom 1.21 4 Isaiah 57.20 5 Sirach 23.22 6 Wisd 3.11 7 So low ones, mists 8 Clouds in the sky