the Gods, with the apprehensions of which
the common rank of people are very little affected; but he says that
the minds of all mortals are terrified by them. Many thousands of men
commit robberies in the face of death; others rifle all the temples
they can get into: such as these, no doubt, must be greatly terrified,
the one by the fears of death, and the others by the fear of the Gods.

But since you dare not (for I am now addressing my discourse to
Epicurus himself) absolutely deny the existence of the Gods, what
hinders you from ascribing a divine nature to the sun, the world, or
some eternal mind? I never, says he, saw wisdom and a rational soul in
any but a human form. What! did you ever observe anything like the sun,
the moon, or the five moving planets? The sun, terminating his course
in two extreme parts of one circle,[94] finishes his annual
revolutions. The moon, receiving her light from the sun, completes the
same course in the space of a month.[95] The five planets in the same
circle, some nearer, others more remote from the earth, begin the same
courses together, and finish them in different spaces of time. Did you
ever observe anything like this, Epicurus? So that, according to you,
there can be neither sun, moon, nor stars, because nothing can exist
but what we have touched or seen.[96] What! have you ever seen the
Deity himself? Why else do you believe there is any? If this doctrine
prevails, we must reject all that history relates or reason discovers;
and the people who inhabit inland countries must not believe there is
such a thing as the sea. This is so narrow a way of thinking that if
you had been born in Seriphus, and never had been from out of that
island, where you had frequently been in the habit of seeing little
hares and foxes, you would not, therefore, believe that there are such
beasts as lions and panthers; and if any one should describe an
elephant to you, you would think that he designed to laugh at you.

XXXII. You indeed, Velleius, have concluded your argument, not after
the manner of your own sect, but of the logicians, to which your people
are utter strangers. You have taken it for granted that the Gods are
happy. I allow it. You say that without virtue no one can be happy. I
willingly concur with you in this also. You likewise say that virtue
cannot reside where reason is not. That I must necessarily allow. You
add, moreover, that reason cannot exist but in a human form. Who, do
yo