Note (return) — Chapter X
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"Let us declare," says Plato, "with what motive the Creator hath formed nature and the universe. He was good, and in the good no manner of envy can, on any subject, possibly subsist. Exempt from envy, he had wished that all things should, as far as possible, resemble himself.... It was not, and is not to be allowed for the Supremely Good to do any thing except what is most excellent (κάλλιστον)--most fair, most beautiful." 510 Therefore, argues Plato, "inasmuch as the world is the most beautiful of things, and its artificer the best of causes, it is evident that the Creator and Father of the universe looked to the Eternal Model (παράδειγµα), pattern, or plan," 511 which lay in his own mind. And thus this one, only-generated universe, is the image (εἰκών) of that God who is the object of the intellect, the greatest, the best, and the most perfect Being. 512