CHAPTER VII
A MAN CAN MOST EASILY BE FORMED IN EARLY YOUTH, AND CANNOT BE FORMED PROPERLY EXCEPT AT THIS AGE
1. From what has been said it is evident that the circumstances of men and of trees are similar. For, as a fruit tree (an apple, a pear, a fig, or a vine) is able to grow from its own stock and of its own accord, while a wild tree will not bring forth sweet fruits until it be planted, watered, and pruned by a skilled gardener, so does a man grow of his own accord into a human semblance (just as any brute resembles others of his own class), but is unable to develope into a rational, wise, virtuous, and pious creature, unless virtue and piety are first engrafted in him. We will now show that this must take place while the plants are young.
2. From the human point of view there are six reasons for this. First, the uncertainty of our present life. For that we must leave it is certain, but when and how is uncertain. And that any should be snatched away unprepared is a danger greatly to be dreaded, since a man is thus doomed eternally. For, just as a man must go through life without a limb if he leave his mother’s womb bereft of it, so, if, when we leave this world, our minds have not been moulded to the knowledge of and participation in God, there will be no further opportunity given us. And therefore, as the matter is of such importance, the greatest haste is necessary, lest any man be lost.
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