the horizon. When a man goes towards the North Pole, the Pole Star
rises one degree above the horizon for each degree of distance that he
travels, that is to say, the altitude of the Pole Star will be 34x, then
40x, then 50x, then 60x, then 70x. If he reaches the North Pole the
altitude of the Pole Star will be 90x or have attained the zenith, that is
to say, will be directly overhead. This Pole Star and its ascension are
sensible things. The farther one goes towards the Pole, the higher the
Pole Star rises; from these two known truths an unknown thing has been
discovered, that is, that the horizon is curved: meaning that the horizon
of each degree of the earth is a different horizon from that of another
degree. Man perceives this, and proves from it an invisible thing which is
the roundness of the earth. This it is impossible for the animal to
perceive. In the same way it cannot understand that the sun is the center
and that the earth revolves around it. The animal is the captive of the
senses and bound by them; all that is beyond the senses, the things that
they do not control, the animal can never understand; although in the
outer senses it is greater than man. Hence it is proved and verified that
in man there is a power of discovery by which he is distinguished from the
animals, and this is the spirit of man.

Praise be to God! man is always turned towards the heights, and his
aspiration is lofty; he always desires to reach a greater world than the
world in which he is, and to mount to a higher sphere than that in which
he is. The love of exaltation is one of the characteristics of man. I am
astonished that certain philosophers of America and Europe are content to
gradually approach the animal world, and so to go backwards; for the
tendency of existence must be towards exaltation. Nevertheless, if you
said to one of them, You are an animal--he would be extremely hurt and
angry.

What a difference between the human world and the world of the animal;
between the elevation of man and the abasement of the animal; between the
perfection of man and the ignorance of the animal; between the light of
man and the darkness of the animal; between the glory of man and the
degradation of the animal! An Arab child of ten years can manage two or
three hundred camels in the desert, and with his voice can lead them
forward or turn them back. A weak Hindu can so control a huge elephant,
that the elephant becomes the most obedient of s