ii PROGRESS AND PERFECTION 285 



margin. 1 On the other hand, 2 this infinite process is not 

 in vain, for it is not from imperfect to perfect, but a 

 " circular movement about the degrees of perfection, in 

 order to arrive at the infinite centre which is neither 

 formed nor form." This paradox Tansillo (taking the 

 part of the Nolan) refuses to explain. It probably hints 

 at the idea, as familiar in Bruno as the infinite process 

 itself, that in each form or degree of perfection, the 

 infinite with all its perfection, is wholly present. It is 

 a centre which is at the same time the circumference. 



In a subsequent dialogue 3 the object alike of intel- 

 lectual pursuit and of the heart's desire is described as 

 a positive or " perfective " infinite. The will cannot 

 rest satisfied with a finite good ; but if there is other 

 good beyond, desires it, seeks it, because, as the com- 

 mon saying goes, the acme of one species is the foot 

 and the beginning of the next higher species. The 

 highest good being infinite, it is communicated in- 

 finitely, but also according to the nature of the things 

 to which it is communicated. Neither to the universe, 

 e.g. as regards mass and figure, nor to the intellect, nor 

 to the heart, are any definite limits fixed ; yet the 

 intellect and the heart may still become perfect through 

 or by their object, for that object is not merely a 

 " privative infinite 4 " or potentiality, but a perfective or 

 positive 5 infinite as being itself actuality and perfection. 

 When the intellect conceives truth, or light, the good, 

 the beautiful, within the whole capacity of its nature, 

 and the soul drinks of the divine nectar and of the 

 source of eternal life, so much as its vessel can hold, it 

 is seen that the light (of truth) extends beyond, and 



1 Lag. 654, 655. 2658.16. '731. 9 ff. 



4 E.g. darkness is pri-vatively infinite, although it has a limit in light, a positive 

 something. 



5 E.g. light is positively infinite j its limit darkness is privation. 



