On the Usefulness of the Parts, Vol. I

man, and thus are hands instruments befitting a wise animal. For it is not because he had hands that he was the wisest, as Anaxagoras said, but because he was the wisest, he had hands, as Aristotle says, knowing this most correctly. For the hands did not teach man the arts, but rather reason. The hands are an instrument, just as the lyre is for the musician and the tongs for the smith. Just as the lyre did not teach the musician, nor the tongs the smith—but each of them is an artisan because of the reason within himself, and cannot act according to his art without instruments—so too does every soul possess certain powers by its own essence, but it is impossible for it to do what it is naturally meant to do without instruments. And it is possible to see clearly that the parts of the body do not persuade the soul to become cowardly, brave, or wise, by observing newborn animals attempting to act before their parts are fully developed. I have often seen a calf butting before it grew its horns, a foal kicking with its hooves still soft, a tiny piglet attempting to defend itself with jaws bare of large teeth, and a newborn puppy striving to bite with teeth still tender. For every animal has an untaught perception of the powers of its own soul and the capabilities of its parts. Or else, why is it that when the small piglet could bite with its small teeth, it...