Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	eternal_a	good_a	3,595	5	3.1999	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08063	A discourse whether a noble man by birth or a gentleman by desert is greater in nobilitie; Nennio. English	Nenna, Giovanni Battista.; Jones, William, Sir, 1566-1640.	1600 (1600)	STC 18429; ESTC S112758	119,707	207

nobility of man dooth neither consist in antiquity of bloud nor in wealth but in the vertues of the mind when I shall haue alleadged such reasons as my slender capacity y e smal time which is left me wil will giue me leaue albeit that to perswade you in this point the reasones already rehearsed may seeme sufficient Whereunto Fabricio added some other words and after he had a little taken breath and called his wits togither as one halfe weary already he gaue this beginning to his future discourse Most worthy gentlemen It was his pleasure whose will doth moue the heauens to create and frame all things we see in this world to a certaine and due ende The sunne which for the most part doth shine vnto vs and from the which lesser starres doe take their light principally to shewe vnto vs the magnificence of his glory and next for the profit of man Likewise he created the earth the water the ayre the fire and other liuing creatures for the vse of man But man himselfe was formed for God that soueraign and infinite good and not for any other thing here beneath on earth We know also by those motions we doe feele in our selues that man is neuer thorowlie contented albeit he haue vnder his power and dominion whatsoeuer hee may especiallie wish or desire in this world for though some one delight to haue children or riches or great offices dignities and honour and that fortune doe fauor him in al his demands yet is y e desire of his minde neuer in rest but hee still longeth couetously more and more after somthing or other bicause there is not here on earth any stability nor the ende of any infinite good But man by the intellectual knowledge of his vnderstanding gaining the infinite grace and excessiue loue of him who in himselfe is the infinitie of goodnes his mortall desire is staid resteth it selfe like vnto a stone which being cast on high neuer resteth vntill it come to the bosome of the earth which is the last end of the rest thereof Now I say that he is most perfit and noble who approcheth neerest vnto this last end Forasmuch as if I desire heate surely how much the neerer I shall draw neerer vnto the fire by so much shall I attain vnto my desire Then to see who is y e most noble most perfit of vs two wee ought to consider which of vs approcheth neerest vnto the end hee was made for For without doubt he shal be deemed the most noble and not he who is descended of most noble bloud And as you knowe that no man can attaine vnto any end but by some meanes The meanes wee haue to come thereunto is vertue which hath residence in the soule and not in the bodie and God made the soule vnto his likenesse and not the body where it remaineth which in it selfe doth onely resemble brutish beastes If then Possidonio thou doest inrich this thy body with apparell and with wealth if thou doest fill it with daintie fare and leauest thy soule without the ornament of vertue and good conditions surely thou doest not adorne thy selfe with perfit Nobilitie as degenerating from the determinate end thereof For man being framed of body and soule his will shall either encline to the body or the minde If to the bodie because it was framed of earth which draweth downwardes hee cannot comprehend nor desire any other thing but terrestriall and earthly matters If to the minde because it is nothing but a celestiall spirite he cannot couet after anie other thing then to mount on high where al perfection consisteth and disdaine fraile thinges which are on the earth But man ought to gouerne himselfe according vnto reason not according as the bodie but as his soule guideth him the one being subiect vnto corruption the other made to liue eternally Likewise the ornamentes of the soule as that is immortall euen so are they and those that set forth the body are corruptible as the body is Forasmuch as both the internall and externall goodes of the bodie which consist in a iust proportiō of members in health in force in riches in procreation of children in building of pallaces and such other things are al fraile and transitorie in asmuch as to day they haue their being and in a moment are brought to the ground whereas contrarily the goods of the soule are durable perpetuall and eternall You see then howe much the soule is farre more perfit and noble then the body Wherefore if thou desirest to please the body and I determine to serue and obey the soule I shall haue so much aduauntage of thee in nobilitie as the one excelleth the other as if I should say Those thinges that doe set forth the soule are vertues which a man doth irreuocablie poure into his minde for vertue is a firme abiding affection of the minde which causeth whosoeuer is possessed therewith to deserue great praise And whensoeuer it is not constant it looseth the name of vertue seeing that this stabilitie of affection by continuall vse and practise is changed into an habitude Some of these vertues doe consist in good maners and behauiour others in the vnderstanding The former doe consist in a meane betweene two extreames the latter neither in extremitie nor in a meane as prudence science intelligence and wisedome Other some which by auncient writers are called morall vertues are so many appetites and desires as come into our minde For if so bee that I am naturally addicted vnto women or some other aboue measure desirous of daintie fare Or else if when reason commandeth I doe abstaine from looking on a woman or that other from his meate surely both of these in vs is a vice Vertue then considering the middle of these extreames with a strong bridle ouerruleth these inordinate appetites which a man can hardly withstand at the first assault because hee cannot so well at the first temper the naturall motions of the fleshe nor refrayne the insatiable desire of the belly The like I may say of diuerse and sundrie desires of man which cause him to fall into abhominable vices Now if Vertue did not oppose it selfe against vice I doubt not but our estate shoulde whollie resemble if it were not worse then the life of beastes voide of reason There are besides other vices which man beeing ouertaken withall perswading himselfe they proceede from vertue hee falleth headlong into them As if I should extreamely thirst after honor and dignitie And thou shouldest shewe thy selfe ouer liberall in spending thy goods If this man should rashly thrust himself into the midst of a fray In these vnbrideled appetites albeit they seeme good because that to be placed in honour to bee liberall and a man of courage haue the apparence of good thinges yet notwithstanding they are vitious and ought to bee auoided Forasmuch as my desire leaneth to ambition thine to prodigalitie and the rashe courage of the other to

little casket inriched with gold pretious stones wherin the Persian K. was wont to preserue his most pretious and odoriferous ointmentes but Alexander put neither ointment nor pretious Iewel nor any of his treasure therein but the poeticall workes of Homer the Grecian imagining he had not in al his tresure a iewell of greater value which did better deserue to be locked vp there The reason hereof was not because Homer was born of any noble stock or that he had been of great wealth for scarce was any man of so lowe estate in regarde of riches but in respect of his diuine knowledge and vertue If then the true estimation of man proceedeth from vertue and knowledge whoe dare then affirme that they doe not make him noble who is vertuous of good behauiour and wise albeit he be not descended of any noble bloud Surely he should be a wicked person vicious and foolish that should iudge otherwise For he whom thou dost call and deeme to bee noble hath onelie the apparance of a noble man but those I speak of are noble indeed in asmuch as their vnderstanding is made noble the which doth afterward send forth the light thereof for the ornament of our life If thou art of this making Possidonio I will iudge thee a perfect Noble man but not in regard thou art onely descended of a noble stocke And truely both thy actions and theirs likewise who at this day do vaunt them selues of the nobility of their bloud are wholy disposed and readie to followe the vanities and pleasures of the body which laste but for a while and not the seruice of the soule which is eternall and euerlasting Bloud then auaileth nothing to true perfect nobilitie how little it maketh for thee I haue already declared for that which the vulgar sort esteemeth nobilitie of bloud hath no other good thing in it selfe but a facilitie and sleight to make one Noble O how many are there whom this nobilitie of bloud being considered in man without any other qualitie of noble maketh them base For it is nourished with ignorance fed with pride increased with audacitie liueth with temeritie ruled with lightnesse brought vppe in theftes robberies wantonnesse violence blasphemie euil speech to conclude continued in vanitie which is an enimie to knowledge a traitor to vertue and contrarie to true nobilitie Imagine now Possidonio how noble and perfect this thy Nobilitie of bloud is thorough the which thou persuadest thy selfe thou hast attained to the highest degree of Nobilitie that may be imagined whereas thou art lowest of all other whereinto the foolish opinion of the vulgar sort doth easilie cause thee to fal forsomuch as without any difference at all they call those Noble men who haue but onely a shadow of Nobilitie aswell as they who are true noble men Consider how light and carelesse the miserable beleefe of mortall men is and howe it is openly deceiued I say then Possidonio that thou art not noble and that in thee can no markes of true Nobilitie bee seene but rather a shadowe or to say the troth a meer bare name of Nobility Which if it be so as I haue made manifest vnto you and surely it is so and cannot be otherwise I may saie in arguing after this manner That by how much the effect is far more perfect and more commendable then the name of any thing whatsoeuer by so much I am and so doe deeme my selfe more noble then thou art and howe farre the effect excelleth the name is euident of it selfe For asmuch as if I desire rather effectually to bee learned then so taken as I know thou couetest to be rich then to be called wealthy Whereby thou mayest now well perceiue in what case thou art albeit yesterday thou wert of beleefe after thou haddest recited so manie fables for proofe of thy nobilitie that I shuld haue nothing to speak against thee this day but thou mayest hereafter iudge better whether I had any thing to say or no for to goe thorough with that which offereth it selfe to bee spoken herein much more time then is now left vnto vs wuld not suffice to handle the matter Wherefore I will proceed further Now considering gratious gentlemen that vvhich Possidonio intended yesterdaie vvhen as he said that he is a true and perfect noble man because hee is discended of noble parents Suppose the case that his proposition were true y t vvhosoeuer is borne of a noble stock is a noble man if I did denie that hee were issued of noble familie vvhat could he say vnto me Tell me Possidonio if so be I should deny that thou wert ingendred of noble bloud vvhat wouldest thou answere me what certainty wouldest thou giue me thereof Surely thou vvouldest long goe groping in the darke before thou couldst ascertaine me thereof and vvouldst neuer be able to proue it vvith sound reasons by vvhich I should be constrained of necessitie to beleeue it If then vvee are not certaine of thy birth it follovveth that thy nobilitie ought rather to bee called credible then certaine Wherefore I may very well say thus much That euen as a certaine and true thing is farre more perfect then that which vve onelie beleeue to be certaine So is my nobilitie farre more certaine than thine because it is to be beleeued indeed and not to bee presumed onelie that I am noble in regard that the true essence of nobilitie remaineth in me Thou vvouldest then say perhaps quoth one of the young Ladies vvho was offended with the last wordes of Fabricio because she vvas a kinswoman vnto Possidonio that hee is not his fathers sonne seeing there is no more certaintie of his birth then thou affirmest Truly Fabricio thou art falne into a great errour As though wee knevve not what house hee is come of Thou shouldest not so openlie alleadge that which is false to prooue thy argumentes as pleaseth thee for it doeth ill become thee and now I hold that which Possidonio affirmed for troth and that thou wouldest with thy subtill Sophistrie make vs beleeue that white is blacke Scarce had the young Ladie ended hir wordes but all the company began to laugh with such earnestnes that their heartes were sore therewith and she imagining that they mocked her demanded saying But I pray you vvhereat doe you laugh Suddenlie the Lady Aurelia answered who vvould not laugh to heare thee say so simply that Possidonio is not his fathers sonne as though he could be begotten without a father The young lady halfe angry and with shame dying her cheeks with vermillion like vnto the morning rose said onely I know wel enough what I meane wherunto Fabricio answered smilingly I knovv he is his fathers sonne but I am not certaine vvhether he were his father whom all we do imagine or no and it is to no purpose to say that his father called him sonne or any such like tales for that can in no wise make me assured thereof We may