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← De eruditione filiorum nobilium (On the Education of Noble Children)/Book 1 · De eruditione filiorum nobilium
Chapter 13Erud.1.13

De ipsius fine vel intencione.

The Aim of Learning

The chapter opens by listing five disordered or worthy intentions behind learning, drawing on Bernard of Clairvaux.

Finally, on the purpose that the learner has in mind, blessed Bernard says in his thirty-sixth homily on the Song of Songs: 'There are those who want to know for this sole purpose — just that they may know — and that is a shameful curiosity. Others, however, learn only so that they themselves may be known. . . It is these whom the satirist mocks, saying: Knowing something on your own is nothing unless someone else comes to know that you know it. And that's a shameful vanity. Others, too, learn in order to sell their knowledge for money or for honors — and that is a shameful trade.1 But others learn in order to build others up — and that's love. Others2 .3 .4 in order to be built up — and that's prudence.'5 These words are Bernard's. Of these five intentions, only the last two are good and wholesome; the first three, however, are vain and blameworthy, or even detestable.

Curiosity as the Lust of the Eyes

Curiosity is identified as the lust of the eyes and a disordered desire for knowledge that is endless, restless, and incompatible with God’s dwelling.

As Hugh says in the passage cited above, in book one: 'It is indeed an evil to do good negligently; it is worse to expend many labors in vain.'6 On the first — namely, curiosity — Regarding curiosity, one must know that it is, according to Augustine, the lust of the eyes, about which John speaks in the first canonical letter, chapter two.✦7 Whence the same Augustine, in the tenth book of the Confessions, says: 'There is,' he says, 'a certain desire of experiencing vain and curious things, cloaked under the name of knowledge and of science.'8 Because this desire lies in the appetite of knowing, and the eyes are indeed the chief senses for perceiving, it is therefore called the lust of the eyes in divine speech.✦9 Augustine. And this kind of curiosity is twofold: one type, namely — Some kinds of curiosity reach toward many things, but others reach toward things unknown. For of the kind that aims at knowing or experiencing, much is said in Ecclesiastes 10: 'The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.'10 Hence Hugh says, in the same place, book 5: 'There are some who wish to read or to know all things.' . . But the number of books is infinite. So then,' he says, 'do not chase after infinite things, for where there is no end, there is no rest either, and therefore no peace. But where there is no peace at all, God cannot dwell, because in peace his place is made.'

The Scatter of Many Books

The text warns that pursuing too many books and scattered studies confuses the mind, hinders true wisdom, and leaves one always learning but never arriving at truth.

This is Hugo. Blessed Bernard also says that 'the sheer number of things and the shortness of time don't allow everything to be grasped.' Likewise Horace, in his book of poems: And it's not right to know everything. People who are curious about far too many things end up confusing themselves, and so they make little progress in wisdom — in fact, they can never arrive at a thorough knowledge of anything.11 'The more things you attend to, the less your mind can give to each one.'12 Hence Varro to his Athenian listener: 'He will never arrive anywhere,' he says, 'who follows every path he sees.'13 And so Seneca to Lucilius: 'The sheer number of books drags you along,' he says, 'and since you can't read as many as you own, it's enough to own only as many as you can read.'14 . . It's the mark of a fastidious palate to sample too many things.15 . . It doesn't matter how many books you have, but how good they are. Steady reading benefits; variety delights. This is Seneca. Such curious people, then — as has been said — are empty of truth, according to that word of the Apostle in 2 Timothy 4: 'always learning and never arriving at the knowledge of the truth.' Regarding that curiosity which drives us to know or experience unknown things, Augustine says in Book 10 of On the Trinity: 'If anyone is so curious that he is carried away not by any known cause but by the sheer love of knowing things he does not yet know, this kind of curious person must be distinguished from the name of the earnest student —' but he does not even love the unknown things themselves. .

Curiosity About Hidden Things

A second kind of curiosity desires unknown and hidden things, often leading to heresy and presumption, and must be restrained by humility and obedience to God’s limits.

. Why, then, does it not despise the unknown things it wishes didn't exist, while it wants everything to be known to itself? This kind of curiosity often leads to heresy in those who have tried to probe the secrets of faith beyond what is proper. Hence in Proverbs 9, the foolish and loud woman — who stands for heresy — calls out to passersby and, speaking to the senseless, cries: 'Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant.'✦16 Hence also Seneca, in the fourth book of his Declamations: 'The desire to know unknown things is keener than the desire to review what is already known.' The same, to Lucilius, letter 81: 'Many pass by what is open and ransack what is hidden and concealed; sealed things disturb the thief.' Whatever lies open seems cheap; a burglar passes by what is out in the open.17 . . It has these qualities. . . The most ignorant among us longs to force a way into hidden things. So the simple and the uneducated — and the impure as well — must be especially on their guard against prying into heavenly mysteries, since, as it is written in Exodus 19: 'Any animal that touches the mountain shall be stoned.'✦ Hence it is said in Ecclesiasticus 3: 'Do not seek what is too high for you, and do not investigate what is beyond your strength; but think always on what God has commanded you.' And don't be inquisitive about most of his works. You don't need to see with your own eyes the things that are hidden. As it says in Proverbs 25: 'Just as eating too much honey is not good for a person, so whoever investigates majesty will be crushed by glory.'✦18 That's why the Apostle says to the Romans in chapter 12: 'I say to all who are among you: do not be wiser than you ought to be, but be wise toward sobriety, and to each one just as God has divided a measure of faith.'✦19 From this, Cato also says in his book on morals: Stop prying into the secrets of God and probing what heaven might hold — since you are mortal, care for the things that are mortal.✦✦

Vainglory and the Itch for Praise

The second intention, vainglory, makes knowledge a stage for applause, feeding empty pride rather than inner lament or true progress.

On the second intention of the learner, which is a matter of vanity or empty glory, Cicero says in the Tusculan book: 'Honor nourishes the arts, and all are kindled toward studies by glory.'20 Knowledge of this kind, as Augustine says, does not make a person lament within, but boast about themselves without. Hence those words of the satirist Persius, inserted above in part into the sayings of blessed Bernard: 'Do not,' he says,21 you will seek outside, . . To know your own is nothing, unless another knows you to know this, . . O soul, crooked in the lands, and empty of heavenly things. Cicero also says, in the passage above, in book five: 'Our slight Demosthenes,' he says, 'who used to delight in that whisper of a woman confessing, as is the custom in Greece.' . . This is that Demosthenes. What is more trivial than this? But that orator, so great among others, namely, to speak, had learned not much by himself. But that orator, so great among others, namely, to speak, had learned not much by himself. These are Cicero's words. On this vanity Boethius also speaks in his book On Consolation: 'O glory, glory' — that is, empty glory — 'what are you but a certain vain puffing up of the ears.'22 For as Horace says in his book of Sermons:23 Soft little ears rejoice at the mere sound of a name.

Pride That Knows Nothing

The desire for glory can become deadly, as shown by Sophocles dying of joy, and by the Apostle’s portrait of a proud person who knows nothing but loves disputes.

Valerius Maximus tells us in Book IX that Sophocles, by then an old man, had entered a tragedy in a competition. While he waited in suspense for the verdict, he learned he had won by a single vote — and died of joy. The same thing happens with true wisdom: such a person makes no progress, because the sheer emptiness of pride blinds the mind and won't let it see clearly. So it is with such a person, according to the word of the Apostle in 1 Timothy —✦24 'He is proud, knowing nothing, but sick with disputes and arguments, from which come envy, quarrels, and the like.'✦25 Regarding the third intention, which is driven by greed, Hugh says in Book III of the Ark of Noah: 'Anyone who uses wisdom to gain something other than wisdom itself is unworthy of wisdom — anyone who —'26 .27 .28

Selling Wisdom for Gain

The third intention, greed, turns learning into merchandise and leads scholars to prefer lucrative sciences over the living water of divine wisdom.

He does not seek wisdom in order to possess it—than which nothing is better—but in order to prostitute it for sale. Yet this is what nearly all scholars today do, or at any rate most of them—namely: learning lucrative branches of knowledge, or hurrying toward them as quickly as they can. This is why the Lord complains through Jeremiah, chapter 2: 'They have forsaken me,' he says, 'the fountain of living water'—that is, the saving water of wisdom—because—✦ they do not wish to hear sacred Scripture, 'which proceeds from me as a channel from a fountain.'✦ For this is the water that leaps up into eternal life, as he says in John, chapter 4: 'And they have dug for themselves broken cisterns'—that is, with great zeal and labor they acquire for themselves lucrative sciences, 'in which there is no clear water,' that is,✦✦ that is, not true wisdom, but false and vain and also turbid, because it is earthly.

Earthly Traders and Unfound Wisdom

Scripture is interpreted to show that worldly philosophers, lawyers, and merchants of knowledge seek earthly prudence but do not know the way of true wisdom.

From this it is said afterward: "What do you want on the road to Egypt, that you should drink muddy water?"✦ Which, as if explaining, Baruch says in chapter three: "The sons of Hagar" — that is, of a handmaid, not a free woman — "have sought out the prudence that is from the earth." Then, as if to explain further whom he calls "sons of Hagar," he adds: "Traders of the earth and of Teman, and storytellers, and seekers of prudence and understanding." "But the way of wisdom they have not known, nor have they remembered its paths." "Traders of the earth" are the natural philosophers, who care for the earth — that is, the body — for a price. "Traders of Teman" — which means "south wind" — are the lawyers, who constantly argue cases and litigate, according to that word of Isaiah chapter twenty-one: "Like whirlwinds from the south wind they come."✦ And these too are traders, because they sell their legal arguments at the highest price, as if by weight. Whence it is said in Isaiah chapter thirty-three: "Where is the one who weighs the words of the law?"✦

Undigested Knowledge and Tormented Conscience

Knowledge without love is like undigested food that corrupts the soul, swelling the conscience and leaving one knowing much but doing nothing.

Storytellers — the grammarians — are those who devote themselves to the fables of the poets. The seekers of prudence and understanding, however, are the dialecticians and the followers of worldly philosophy. All knowledge of this kind puffs up and produces torments in the belly of conscience.✦ Hence blessed Bernard, in his thirty-sixth sermon on the Song of Songs, says: 'Food,' he says, 'undigested —' . . — begets corrupt humors and ruins the body, rather than nourishing it. So too, much knowledge that remains undigested in the stomach of the soul — that is, in the memory — if it has not been broken down by the fire of love and so diffused through certain faculties of the soul, namely — Customs and deeds. . . Knowledge of this kind will be counted as sin, just as food turned toward corrupt humors. . . Humors turned corrupt. Or. . . won't endure the swelling and torment in conscience, . . one who knows in this way . . and not doing it?

Read the original Latin

Denique de fine, quem habet addiscens in intencione, dicit beatus bernardus super cantica in omelia xxxvia: ‘Sunt qui scire uolunt eo fine tantum, ut sciant, et est turpis curiositas. Alii uero, ut ipsi sciantur, . . . quos irridet satyricus, dicens:

Scire tuum nichil est, nisi scire hoc sciat alter,

et est turpis uanitas. Alii quoque, ut scienciam uendant pecunia uel honoribus, et est turpis questus. Alii uero discunt, ut edificent, et caritas est. Alij . . . , ut edificentur, et prudencia est.’ Hec bernardus.

Harum quinque intencionum sole due ultime bone sunt et salubres, tres autem prime uane ac uituperabiles, aut etiam detestabiles. ut enim dicit hugo, ubi supra, libro i: ‘malum quidem est bonum negligenter agere, peius est in uacuum multos labores expendere.’ De prima, sc. curiositatis, sciendum, quod ipsa est secundum augustinum concupiscencia oculorum, de qua loquitur iohannes Ia canonica iio. unde idem augustinus in libro confessionum x: ‘Est,’ inquit, ‘cupiditas quedam experiendi uana et curiosa nomine cognicionis atque sciencie palliata. Que quia in appetitu noscendi est, oculi uero sunt ad cognoscendum in sensibus principes, ideo concupiscencia oculorum eloquio diuino appellatur.’ Hec augustinus. Et huiusmodi curiositas duplex est, una sc.

ad multa, alia uero ad ignota. Nam de illa, que est ad sciendum uel experiendum, multa dicitur in ecclesiaste io: ‘Non satiatur oculus uisu, nec auris impletur auditu.’ unde dicit hugo, ubi supra, libro v: ‘Quidam sunt, qui omnia legere uel scire uolunt . . . sed infinitus est librorum numerus. Tu ergo,’ inquit, ‘noli infinita sequi, ubi enim finis non est, ibi nec requies, et ideo nec pax est. ubi uero pax nulla est, deus habitare non potest quia in pace factus est locus eius.’

hec hugo. Dicit etiam beatus bernardus, quod ‘multitudo rerum et temporis breuitas non paciuntur omnia conprehendi.’ Item oracius in libro carminum:

nec scire fas est omnia.

Tales etiam circa plurima curiosi semetipsos confundunt et ideo parum in sapiencia proficiunt, immo nichil ad perfectum scire possunt. Nam ‘pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus.’ unde uarro ad atheniensem auditorem: ‘Nusquam,’ inquit, ‘deueniet, qui, quot uidet, sequitur calles.’ Hinc et seneca ad lucilium: ‘Te trahit,’ inquit, ‘multitudo librorum, et cum legere non possis, quantum habueris, satis est habere, quantum legere possis . . . Fastidientis stomachi est multa degustare . .

. Non refert, quam multos habeas libros, sed quam bonos. lectio certa prodest, uaria delectat.’ Hec seneca. Tales igitur, ut dictum, curiosi sunt inanes ueri, iuxta illud apostoli IIa ad thimotheum iiii, ‘semper discentes et nunquam ad scienciam ueritatis peruenientes.’ De illa uero curiositate, que est ad sciendum uel experiendum ignota, dicit augustinus in libro de trinitate x: ‘Siquis tam curiosus est, ut non propter aliquam notam causam, sed solo amore rapiatur incognita sciendi, discernendus est quidem huiusmodi curiosus a nomine studiosi. sed nec ipse amat incognita . .

. quin pocius odit incognita, que nulla uult esse, dum omnia sibi uult esse cognita.’ Huiusmodi curiositas frequenter solet hereses generare in hiis, qui secreta fidei nitebantur ultra modum inuestigare. unde in prouerbiis ix mulier stulta et clamosa, que significat heresim, transeuntes uocat et uecordibus loquens sic clamat: ‘aque furtiue dulciores sunt et panis absconditus suauior.’ Hinc et seneca in libro declamationum iiiio: ‘Acrior est cupiditas ignota cognoscendi quam nota repetendi.’ Idem ad lucilium epistola lxviiia: ‘multi aperta transeunt, condita et abstrusa rimantur, furem signata sollicitant. vile uidetur, quicquid patet, aperta effractarius preterit . .

. Hos mores habet . . . imperitissimus quisque quod in secreta cupit irrumpere.’ Cauendum est itaque maxime simplicibus et ydiotis uel eciam impuris a secretis celestibus rimandis, quoniam, ut legitur in exodo xix: ‘Bestia, que tetigerit montem, lapidabitur.’ unde dicitur in ecclesiastico iii: ‘Altiora ne quesieris et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris, sed que precepit tibi deus, illa cogita semper. et in pluribus eius operibus ne fueris curiosus.

Non enim est tibi necessarium ea, que abscondita sunt, uidere oculis tuis.’ ut enim legitur in prouerbiis xxv: ‘sicut qui mel comedit multum, non est ei bonum, sic qui perscrutator est maiestatis, opprimetur a gloria.’ Ideo dicitur ab apostolo ad Romanos xii: ‘Dico omnibus, qui sunt inter uos, non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem et unicuique, sicut diuisit deus mensuram fidei.’ Hinc etiam dicit cato in libro de moribus:

Mitte archana dei celumque inquirere quid sit, Cum sis mortalis, que sunt mortalia, cura.

De secunda discentis intencione, que est uanitatis vel inanis glorie, dicit tullius in tusculanario libro io: ‘Honos alit artes omnesque incenduntur ad studia gloria.’ Huiusmodi sciencia, sicut dicit augustinus, non facit hominem interius lamentantem, sed foris se iactantem. Hinc est illud persij satyrici superius ex parte insertum dictis beati bernardi: ‘Ne te,’ inquit,

quesiueris extra, . . . Scire tuum nichil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter, . . . O curue in terris anime et celestium inanes.

Hinc eciam tullius, ubi supra, libro v: ‘leuiculus,’ inquit, ‘noster demostenes, qui illo susurrio delectari se dicebat confitentis muliercule, ut mos est in grecia . . . hic est ille demostenes. Quid hoc leuius? Sed orator ille tantus apud alios,’ uidel. loqui, ‘didicerat non multum ipse secum.’ hec tullius.

De hac etiam uanitate dicit boecius in libro de consolacione: ‘O doxa, doxa,’ id est, inanis gloria, ‘quid aliud es quam quedam aurium inflatio uana.’ ut enim dicit horacius in libro sermonum:

Gaudent pre nomine molles auricule.

unde valerius maximus libro ix narrat, quod ‘sophocles iam senex tragediam quandam in certamine miserat. Cumque suspensus ancipitis certaminis expectaret sentenciam, audiuit se una sentencia uicisse et pre gaudio expirauit.’ Talis etiam in sapiencia uera non proficit, quia ipse tumor inanis eius mentem excecat, nec uidere clare permittit. unde talis iuxta uerbum apostoli Ia ad thymoth. vi: ‘est superbus nichil sciens sed languens circa questiones et pugnas uerborum, ex quibus oriuntur inuidie, contenciones etc.’ De tercia intencione, que est cupiditatis, dicit hugo in libro de archa noe iiio: ‘Indignus est sapiencia, qui per ipsam aliud quam ipsam obtinere intendit, qui . . .

non ut ipsam, qua nichil melius est, possideat, sed ut uenalem prostituat, illam querit.’ Hoc tamen hodie faciunt scolastici fere omnes aut plures, videl. lucratiuas sciencias addiscentes uel ad eas quam cicius possunt festinantes. unde conqueritur dominus per ieremiam iio: ‘Me,’ inquit, ‘derelinquerunt fontem aque uiue,’ id est, salutaris sapiencie, quia sc. sacram scripturam nolunt audire, ‘que a me tanquam uena procedit a fonte.’ Hec est enim aqua salire faciens in vitam eternam, ut dicit in iohanne iiiio: ‘Et foderunt,’ inquit, ‘sibi cysternas dissipatas,’ id est, cum studio et labore magno sibi acquirunt sciencias lucratiuas, ‘in quibus non est aqua limpida,’ i. e. vera sapiencia, sed falsa et vana et eciam turbida, quia terrena.

unde postea dicitur: ‘Quid tibi uis in uia egypti, ut bibas aquam turbidam?’ Quod quasi exponens baruch dicit iiio: ‘Filij agar,’ id est ancille non libere, ‘exquisierunt prudenciam, que de terra est.’ Deinde quasi exponendo, quos uocet ‘filios agar,’ subiungit: ‘Negociatores terre et theman et fabulatores et exquisitores prudencie et intelligencie. uiam autem sapiencie nescierunt, neque meminerunt semitarum eius.’ Negociatores terre phisici sunt, qui terram, id est corpus sub precio curant. Negociatores theman, quod interpretatur affricus, illi sunt aduocati, qui assidue causas ventilant et litigant, iuxta illud ysaie xxi: ‘Sicut turbines ab affrico ueniunt.’ Et hii quoque negociatores sunt, quoniam allegaciones suas carissime, quasi ad pondus uendunt. unde dicitur in ysaia xxxiii, ‘ubi uerba legis ponderans?’

; fabulatores gramatici sunt, qui fabulis poetarum intendunt. Exquisitores autem prudencie et intelligencie sunt dyaletici et sectatores mundane philosophie. Omnis huiusmodi sciencia inflat et uentre consciencie tortiones generat. unde beatus bernardus super cantica omelia xxxvi: ‘Cibus,’ inquit, ‘indigestus . . . malos humores gignit et corpus corrumpit, non nutrit. Sic et multa sciencia stomacho anime indigesta, que est memoria, si decocta igne caritatis non fuerit et sic transfusa per quosdam artus anime, sc.

mores et actus . . . reputabitur huiusmodi sciencia in peccatum tanquam cibus in prauos . . . humores conuersus. An .

. . non inflaciones et torciones in consciencia sustinebit, . . . huiusmodi sciens . . .

et non faciens?’

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1John.2.16 — For all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
  2. ↩1John.2.16 — For all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
  3. ↩Prov.9.17 — Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasing.
  4. ↩Exod.19.12-Exod.19.13 — And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed not to go up on the mountain or touch its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.' Exod.19.13 — No hand shall touch it; for it shall surely be stoned or shot through—whether beast or man, it shall not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.
  5. ↩Prov.25.27 — To eat much honey is not good, and to seek one's own glory is glory.
  6. ↩Rom.12.3 — For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly than one ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
  7. ↩Prov.25.27 — To eat much honey is not good, and to seek one's own glory is glory.
  8. ↩Rom.12.3 — For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly than one ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
  9. ↩1Tim.6.4 — He is puffed up, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments about words, from which come envy, strife, blasphemies, evil suspicions,
  10. ↩1Tim.6.4 — He is puffed up, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments about words, from which come envy, strife, blasphemies, evil suspicions,
  11. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  12. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  13. ↩John.4.14 — but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst forever; rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life
  14. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  15. ↩Jer.2.18 — And now, what is your business on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? And what is your business on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
  16. ↩Isa.21.1 — The oracle of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds sweep through the Negev, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
  17. ↩Isa.33.18 — Your heart will muse on terror: Where is the scribe? Where is the one who weighs? Where is the one who counts the towers?
  18. ↩1Cor.8.1 — Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that all of us possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Questus can mean 'complaint,' 'lament,' or 'gain/profit from trading.' Here the commercial metaphor (vendere scientiam) favors 'trade' or 'profitable complaint.'
  2. 2 ↩The Latin consists of a single word 'Alij' (others) with a period — an incomplete or fragmentary sentence, likely a scribal remnant or heading. Translated as-is.
  3. 3 ↩The source text for this sentence is a bare period — likely a typesetting or transcription artifact. No meaningful content to translate.
  4. 4 ↩The source text for this sentence is a bare period — likely a typesetting or transcription artifact. No meaningful content to translate.
  5. 5 ↩The normalized text opens with a comma and closing quotation mark, suggesting this is a continuation or fragment of a preceding sentence. The leading comma has been rendered as a dash to signal the syntactic break.
  6. 6 ↩The embedded quotation is attributed to Hugh (of St. Victor); the Latin source text is not a direct biblical citation.
  7. 7 ↩Reference to 1 John 2:16 (Vulgate), where 'concupiscentia oculorum' appears. The citation format 'Ia canonica iio' = 1 John chapter 2.
  8. 8 ↩Quotation from Augustine, Confessiones X.xxiii (39), adapted. The Latin 'palliata' (cloaked/covered) renders the metaphor of curiosity disguised as learning.
  9. 9 ↩The argument moves from natural philosophy (eyes as chief senses) to scriptural language (lust of the eyes), grounding the theological term in sensory hierarchy.
  10. 10 ↩Quotation attributed to Ecclesiastes; chapter reference 'io' (10) needs verification against Vulgate numbering. Candidate scripture allusion pending Moses resolution.
  11. 11 ↩Immo rendered as 'in fact' to capture the corrective/intensifying force rather than the weaker 'nay rather.'
  12. 12 ↩The Latin hexameter 'pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus' is a known classical proverb. Rendered in a natural English proverbial cadence rather than word-for-word.
  13. 13 ↩Calles rendered as 'paths' rather than 'tracks' for natural modern English.
  14. 14 ↩Cum with subjunctive (possis, habueris) read concessively: 'since you cannot' captures the force of the concessive clause in natural English.
  15. 15 ↩Fastidientis stomachi est multa degustare is a proverbial saying. Rendered with 'fastidious palate' to preserve the metaphor of taste/appetite in natural English.
  16. 16 ↩Quotation from Proverbs 9:17 (Vulgate). The speaker identifies the 'foolish woman' (mulier stulta) as a figure for heresy.
  17. 17 ↩Effractarius is a rare word meaning 'burglar' or 'housebreaker.' The sense is that what is openly available is despised, while the curious pursue what is hidden.
  18. 18 ↩Quoted passage aligns with Proverbs 25:27 (Vulgate). Final Moses resolution pending.
  19. 19 ↩Quoted passage aligns with Romans 12:3 (Vulgate). Final Moses resolution pending.
  20. 20 ↩The Latin reads 'Tullius in tusculanario libro io' — 'io' is an uncertain numeral form, likely a corruption of 'primo' (first). The quotation closely matches Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.2.4, where he writes 'Honos alit artes' — the sentiment is Ciceronian, but the exact book reference in the manuscript is unclear. Translated as 'the Tusculan book' without specifying a number to reflect this uncertainty.
  21. 21 ↩The quotation attributed to Persius and linked to Bernard of Clairvaux is a candidate allusion; the source span is incomplete in this section and the quotation continues in the next section. Final resolution deferred.
  22. 22 ↩The Greek loanword δόξα (doxa) is retained in the Latin as a vocative exclamation; rendered here as 'glory' to preserve the Boethian echo. 'Aurium inflatio' (literally 'inflation of the ears') is a vivid metaphor for the hollow swelling that comes from being praised — the ears being the organ through which flattery enters.
  23. 23 ↩The connective pair ut enim is ambiguous: ut may function as a complementizer introducing the citation ('as') or as a purpose conjunction ('so that'); enim provides explanatory force ('for'/'indeed'). The translation renders the most natural reading — 'For as [he] says' — treating ut as a comparative complementizer and enim as explanatory. The sentence is a fragment introducing a further quotation not supplied in this section.
  24. 24 ↩The Latin abbreviates the reference as 'Ia ad thymoth.' — i.e., 1 Timothy. The specific verse is supplied in the following sentence.
  25. 25 ↩Quotation from 1 Timothy 6:4 (Vulgate).
  26. 26 ↩The Latin text breaks off mid-sentence ('qui .'). The translation preserves the truncation as it stands in the source.
  27. 27 ↩This sentence ref contains only a period in the source — likely a placeholder or continuation marker from the truncated sentence above.
  28. 28 ↩This sentence ref contains only a period in the source — likely a placeholder or continuation marker from the truncated sentence above.

De eruditione filiorum nobilium (On the Education of Noble Children) companion

Formation starts with the parents' own practice

Model a daily devotional habit your children can see — Chosen Portion makes it a free 10-minute routine.

Vincent taught that children are formed by the daily practices of their household; Chosen Portion gives parents the daily devotional practice that anchors that household rhythm.

  • A short daily devotional you can read before the kids wake up
  • Family-friendly portions from the same historic tradition Vincent drew on
  • Build a visible 30-day habit your children can imitate
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →