Monologium, on the Being of God67 Chapter LXVII. The mind itself is the mirror and image of that Being.
Chapter LXVII. The mind itself is the mirror and image of that Being.
Therefore, the mind may most fitly be said to be its own mirror wherein it contemplates, so to speak, the image of what it cannot see face to face. For, if the mind itself alone among all created beings is capable of remembering and conceiving of and loving itself, I do not see why it should be denied that it is the true image of that being which, through its memory and intelligence and love, is united in an ineffable Trinity. Or, at any rate, it proves itself to be the more truly the image of that Being by its power of remembering, conceiving of, and loving, that Being. For, the greater and the more like that Being it is, the more truly it is recognised to be its image.
But, it is utterly inconceivable that any rational creature can have been naturally endowed with any power so excellent and so like the supreme Wisdom as this power of remembering, and conceiving of, and loving, the best and greatest of all beings. Hence, no faculty has been bestowed on any creature that is so truly the image of the Creator.
Aptissime igitur ipsa sibimet esse velut speculum dici potest, in quo speculetur, ut ita dicam, imaginem ejus quam facie ad faciem videre nequit. Nam, si mens ipsa sola ex omnibus quae facta sunt, sui memor et intelligens et amans esse potest, non video cur negetur esse in illa vera imago illius essentiae, quae per sui memoriam, et intelligentiam, et amorem in Trinitate ineffabili consistit. Aut certe inde verius esse illius se probat imaginem; quia illius potest esse memor, illam intelligere et amare. In quo enim major est et illi similior, in eo verior illius esse imago cognoscitur. Omnino autem cogitari non potest rationali creaturae naturaliter esse datum aliquid tam praecipuum, tamque simile summae sapientiae quam hoc, quia potest reminisci, et intelligere, et amare id quod optimum et maximum est omnium. Nihil igitur aliud est inditum alicui creaturae quod sic praeferat imaginem Creatoris.