may grow wise, but the world, if it were destitute of wisdom
through an infinite space of time past, could never acquire it. Thus it
would be worse than man. But as that is absurd to imagine, the world
must be esteemed wise from all eternity, and consequently a Deity:
since there is nothing existing that is not defective, except the
universe, which is well provided, and fully complete and perfect in all
its numbers and parts.

XIV. For Chrysippus says, very acutely, that as the case is made for
the buckler, and the scabbard for the sword, so all things, except the
universe, were made for the sake of something else. As, for instance,
all those crops and fruits which the earth produces were made for the
sake of animals, and animals for man; as, the horse for carrying, the
ox for the plough, the dog for hunting and for a guard. But man himself
was born to contemplate and imitate the world, being in no wise
perfect, but, if I may so express myself, a particle of perfection; but
the world, as it comprehends all, and as nothing exists that is not
contained in it, is entirely perfect. In what, therefore, can it be
defective, since it is perfect? It cannot want understanding and
reason, for they are the most desirable of all qualities. The same
Chrysippus observes also, by the use of similitudes, that everything in
its kind, when arrived at maturity and perfection, is superior to that
which is not--as, a horse to a colt, a dog to a puppy, and a man to a
boy--so whatever is best in the whole universe must exist in some
complete and perfect being. But nothing is more perfect than the world,
and nothing better than virtue. Virtue, therefore, is an attribute of
the world. But human nature is not perfect, and nevertheless virtue is
produced in it: with how much greater reason, then, do we conceive it
to be inherent in the world! Therefore the world has virtue, and it is
also wise, and consequently a Deity.

XV. The divinity of the world being now clearly perceived, we must
acknowledge the same divinity to be likewise in the stars, which are
formed from the lightest and purest part of the ether, without a
mixture of any other matter; and, being altogether hot and transparent,
we may justly say they have life, sense, and understanding. And
Cleanthes thinks that it may be established by the evidence of two of
our senses--feeling and seeing--that they are entirely fiery bodies;
for the heat and brightness of the sun far exceed any oth