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Then again, there being four elements, water produces a fifth out of itself, which is the sea, no less beneficial than the rest, as well for commerce as for many other
things. So that it may be said, this element united and
perfected our manner of living, which before was wild
and unsociable, correcting it by mutual assistance, and
[p. 334]
creating community of friendship by reciprocal exchanges
of one good turn for another. And as Heraclitus said, If
there were no sun, it would be perpetual night; so may
we say, If there were no sea, man would be the most
savage and shameless of all creature. But the sea brought
the vine from India into Greece, and out of Greece transmitted the use of corn to foreign parts; from Phoenicia translated
the knowledge of letters, the memorials that prevent oblivion; furnished the world with wine and fruit, and prevented the greatest part of mankind from being illiterate
and void of education. How is it possible then but that
water should be the most useful, when it thus furnishes us
with an entirely new element?
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 5.
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