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1 " Should Plenty pour from cornucopia fullAs much in riches as the sandStirred up by wind-whipped seas, or as the countless starsThat shine in the clear night sky,And never stay her hand,Still would mankind not ceaseComplaining of their wretchedness.Even were God with much gold prodigal,Answering men's prayers,And heaped bright honors on those wanting them,Their gains would seem to themNothing: ever their cruel gain-devouring greedOpens new maws. What curbsCould check within firm bounds this headlong lust,When even those whose wealth is overflowingThe thirst for gain still burns?He is never richWho trembles and sighs, thinking himself in need. "
― Boethius , Theological Tractates/The Consolation of Philosophy
2 " For the nature of man is such that he is better than other things only when he knows himself, and yet if he ceases to know himself he is made lower than the brutes. For it is natural for other animals not to have this self-knowledge; in man it is a fault. How far from your true state have you wandered when you think you can be at all improved by the addition of the beauties of other things! "