[82]
The Stoics, for example, establish the existence of
divination by the following process of reasoning:
"'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 it will
be; or, they think it inconsistent with their dignity
to give man forewarnings of the future; or, finally,
they, though gods, cannot give intelligible signs of
coming events. But it is not true that the gods
do not love us, for they are the friends and benefactors of the human race; nor is it true that they
do not know their own decrees and their own plans;
nor is it true that it is of no advantage to us
to know what is going to happen, since we should
be more prudent if we knew nor is it true that the
gods think it inconsistent with their dignity to give
forecasts, since there is no more excellent quality
than kindness; nor is it true that they have not
the power to know 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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