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Soliloquia (PL)
2.
A. Manifestissimum ordinem video atque brevissimum. R. Hic ergo esto nunc, ut interroganti [Col. 0886] caute firmeque respondeas. A. Isthic sum. R. Si manebit semper mundus iste, verum est mundum semper mansurum esse? A. Quis hoc dubitet? R. Quid, si non manebit? nonne ita verum est mundum non esse mansurum? A. Nihil resisto. R. Quid, cum interierit, si interiturus est? nonne tunc id erit verum, mundum interisse? Nam quamdiu verum non est mundum occidisse, non occidit: repugnat igitur ut mundus occiderit, et verum non sit mundum occidisse. A. Et hoc concedo. R. Quid illud? Videturne tibi verum aliquid esse posse, ut veritas non sit? A. Nullo modo. R. Erit igitur veritas, etiamsi mundus intereat. A. Negare non possum. R. Quid, si ipsa veritas occidat? nonne verum erit veritatem occidisse? A. Et istud quis negat? R. Verum autem non potest esse, si veritas non sit. A. Jam hoc paulo ante concessi. R. Nullo modo igitur occidet veritas. A. Perge ut coepisti, nam ista collectione nihil est verius.
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Two Books of Soliloquies
2.
A. I see a very plain and compendious order. R. Let this then be the order, that you answer my questions cautiously and firmly. A. I attend. R. If this world shall always abide, it is true that this world is always to abide? A. Who doubts that? R. What if it shall not abide? is it not then true that the world is not to abide? A. I dispute it not. R. How, when it shall have perished, if it is to perish, will it not then be true, that the world has perished? For as long as it is not true that the world has come to an end, it has not come to an end: it is therefore self-contradictory, that the world is ended and that it is not true that the world is ended. A. This too I grant. R. Furthermore, does it seem to you that anything can be true, and not be Truth? A. In no wise. R. There will therefore be Truth, even though the frame of things should pass away. A. I cannot deny it. R. What if Truth herself should perish? will it not be true that Truth has perished? A. And even that who can deny? R. But that which is true cannot be, if Truth is not. A. I have just conceded this. R. In no wise therefore can Truth fail. A. Proceed as thou hast begun, for than this deduction nothing is truer.