[124]
60. "But, though the conclusion just stated is
obvious, let us now look deeper into the question.
Surely you must assume, either that there is a
Divine Power which, in planning for our good, gives
us information by means of dreams; or that, because
of some natural connexion and association—the
Greeks call it συμπάθεια—interpreters of dreams
know what sort of a dream is required to fit any
situation and what sort of a result will follow any
dream; or that neither of these suppositions is true,
but that the usual result or consequence of every
dream is known by a consistent system of rules
based on long-continued observation. In the first
place, then, it must be understood that there is no
divine power which creates dreams. And indeed it
is perfectly clear that none of the visions seen in
dreams have their origin in the will of the gods;
for the gods, for our sakes, would so interpose
that we might be able to foresee the future.
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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