Piety, mother of the virtues; knowing God
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Piety must be cared for above all — rightly called mother of the virtues, for it is their beginning and their end. Both sight and the natural law teach knowledge of God, the cause that holds all things together and makes them: sight by striking what is seen and fixed; the law by reasoning from the seen and ordered things up to their leader.
Greek
Εὐσεβείας ἐπὶ πᾶσι φροντιστέον, ἣν μητέρα φασὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν, ὀρθῶς λέγοντες· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἀρχὴ καὶ τελευτὴ τῶν ἀρετῶν. Τὸ εἰδέναι θεὸν καὶ τὴν πάντων συνεκτικήν τε καὶ ποιητικὴν αἰτίαν καὶ ὄψις διδάσκαλος καὶ ὁ φυσικὸς νόμος· ἡ μὲν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις προσβάλλουσα καὶ πεπηγόσιν, ὁ δὲ διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τεταγμένων τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τούτων συλλογιζόμενος.