But a life which realized this idea would be something more than human; for it would not be the expression of man’s nature, but of some divine element in that nature⁠—the exercise of which is as far superior to the exercise of the other kind of virtue [ i.e. practical or moral virtue], as this divine element is superior to our compound human nature. 254

If then reason be divine as compared with man, the life which consists in the exercise of reason will also be divine in comparison with human life. Nevertheless, instead of listening to those who advise us as men and mortals not to lift our thoughts above what is human and mortal, we ought rather, as far as possible, to put off our mortality and make every effort to live in the exercise of the highest of our faculties: for though it be but a small part of us, yet in power and value it far surpasses all the rest.