200 GIORDANO BRUNO PART 



degree of evil and defect, as what is not absolutely 

 bright is not without some signs of obscurity. . . . 

 Therefore the perfect, absolutely and in itself, is one, 

 infinite, which cannot be greater or better, and than 

 which nothing can be greater or better. This is one, 

 everywhere, the only God, universal nature, of which 

 nothing can be a perfect image or reflection, but the 

 infinite. Everything finite therefore is imperfect, every 

 sensible world is imperfect, as good and evil, matter and 

 form, light and darkness, joy and sadness concur in it, 

 and all things everywhere are in alteration and move- 

 ment ; but all of them, in the infinite, are as in unity, 

 truth, and goodness, and in this aspect the infinite is 

 rightly called the universe." * In the infinite, as we 

 have learned from the Causa, all contraries are one. 

 The universe is perfect, not because of its quantity, 

 but because it contains all other things in it. 2 Within 

 the limits of their kind small causes can produce 

 small effects with some perfection ; much more effective 

 is that immeasurable and more general cause, of which 

 nothing stands in the way. It is a harmony of the 

 many in one, the only corporeal image of the divine 

 mind. The finite, however, is imperfect only when 

 taken apart from the whole to which it belongs, i.e. 

 evil and defect are appearances only. Although in 

 nature not all things are of their best, and more species 

 than one produce monstrosities, yet we may not find fault 

 with the great building of the mighty architect, for 

 even the small, weak, and diminutive contributes its 

 part to the nobility of the whole. Is a picture most 

 beautiful when it is blazoned all over with gold and 

 purple ? Does it not shine out best from a dull back- 

 ground ? Can there be any part which, in its order 



1 Op. Lot. i. 2. p. 307. 2 P. 309 ff. 



