A Sketch of Universal Wisdom

Regarding the perpetual confusion of things, the complaints of wise men in every age are well known. No one is unaware of them, unless they are either a stranger to the World—such as infants who have only recently entered it—or a mere stump and block of wood—such as the dull-witted, who pay no attention to what is happening, much less care about it. The source of these confusions, however, is that almost all mortals (even those who seem wise to themselves and to the world) do everything, or certainly their most important tasks, not by counsel and reason, of which they are ignorant, but by chance. In this sense, Augustine said that most men are fools (Book 1 of On Free Choice of the Will, chapter 9). And Cicero: Nothing is so utterly common as to know nothing. Likewise: I believe a mule has more often given birth than a truly wise man has existed. Cicero is referencing a common ancient proverb; because mules are sterile, a mule giving birth was considered a nearly impossible omen. He uses this to highlight how vanishingly rare true wisdom is among men. Since, therefore, Wisdom—the Governor of Things original: "Rerum moderatrix." Comenius personifies Wisdom as the guiding force that should ideally regulate human behavior and natural order.—has abandoned mankind, is it any wonder that everything is conducted without moderation and through tumult? And that our affairs are not carried toward their proper goals but rush beyond their bounds, casting us down into various precipices? The salvation of the human race, then, would lie in uncovering the true Ends In a philosophical sense, "Ends" refers to the ultimate purpose or goal of an action. of things, the certain Means leading to those ends, and the legitimate Methods for using those means...