point beyond which our senses
can no longer perceive anything, although by its nature it is infinitely
divisible.
Of these two Infinites of science, that of greatness is the most palpable,
and hence a few persons have pretended to know all things. "I will speak of
the whole," said Democritus.
But the infinitely little is the least obvious. Philosophers have much
oftener claimed to have reached it, and it is here they have all stumbled.
This has given rise to such common titles as First Principles, Principles of
Philosophy, and the like, as ostentatious in fact, though not in appearance,
as that one which blinds us, De omni scibili.5
We naturally believe ourselves far more capable of reaching the centre of
things than of embracing their circumference. The visible extent of the
world visibly exceeds us; but as we exceed little things, we think ourselves
more capable of knowing them. And yet we need no less capacity for attaining
the Nothing than the All. Infinite capacity is required for both, and it
seems to me that whoever shall have understood the ultimate principles of
being might also attain to the knowledge of the Infinite. The one depends on
the other, and one leads to the other. These extremes meet and reunite by
force of distance and find each other in God, and in God alone.
Let us, then, take our compass; we are something, and we are not everything.
The nature of our existence hides from us the knowledge of first beginnings
which are born of the Nothing; and the littleness of our being conceals from
us the sight of the Infinite.
Our intellect holds the same position in the world of thought as our body
occupies in the exp
---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
TIP 9: In versions below 8.0, the planner will ignore your desire to
choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not
match
