[117]
"Now there is a great problem as to how prophets
and dreamers can see things, which, at the time,
have no actual existence anywhere. But that
question would be solved quite readily if we were to
investigate certain other questions which demand
consideration first. For the theory in regard to the
nature of the gods, so clearly developed in the second
book of your work on that subject, includes this
whole question. If we maintain that theory we
shall establish the very point which I am trying
to make: namely, 'that there are gods; that
they rule the universe by their foresight; and
that they direct the affairs of men—not merely of
men in the mass, but of each individual.' If
we succeed in holding that position—and for my
part I think it impregnable—then surely it must
follow that the gods give to men signs of coming
events.
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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