[101]
49. After this statement had been made by
Quintus, I began again, making a new start, so to
speak:
"I am well aware, my dear Quintus, that, while
you have always felt a doubt about all other kinds
of divination, you approve of the two you just mentioned—divination by frenzy and divination by
dreams, both of which, it is thought, flow from a
soul set free. Let me, then, state my opinion of
these two kinds of divination. But, first, let me
examine that syllogism1 of the Stoics and of our
friend Cratippus and see how sound it is. You
stated the syllogism of Chrysippus, Diogenes, and
Antipater2 in this way:
"'If there are gods and they do not make clear
to man in advance what the future will be, then
they do not love man, or they themselves do not
know what the future will be; or they think that
it is of no advantage to man to know what the
future will be; or they think it inconsistent with
their dignity to give to man forewarnings of the
future; or they, though gods, cannot give signs
of coming events.
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