[109]
49. "But let us bring the discussion back to
the point from which it wandered. Assume that I
can give no reason for any of the instances of divination which I have mentioned and that I can do no
more than show that they did occur, is that not a
sufficient answer to Epicurus and to Carneades?
And what does it matter if, as between artificial
and natural divination, the explanation of the former
is easy and of the latter is somewhat hard? For
the results of those artificial means of divination,
by means of entrails, lightnings, portents, and
astrology, have been the subject of observation for
a long period of time. But in every field of inquiry
great length of time employed in continued observation begets an extraordinary fund of knowledge,
which may be acquired even without the intervention
or inspiration of the gods, since repeated observa-
[p. 343]
tion makes it clear what effect follows any given
cause, and what sign precedes any given event.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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