Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 9.djvu/474

 the wider conception, and includes under it as a peculiar species, viz., an imperfect.

, that is, arises from the longing of the imperfect for the perfect, of the for the, and is simply the process whereby it reaches whatever degree of perfection the inherent limitations of its nature concede to it.

, on the other hand, does not essentially or necessarily imply motion or change. In fact in the typical case, the perfect exercise of function by the senses, there is neither nor  nor ; the appropriate stimulus rouses the organ to activity and the organ functions naturally in grasping it ; when this process is free from friction (‘impediment’) perception is perfect and accompanied by.

In man unfortunately, this happy state of things is only temporary: activity cannot be sustained because, owing to the defectiveness ( or ) of a composite nature adulterated with, we grow weary and allow our attention to wander and cannot be continuously active.

But God’s case is different; his is a pure and perfect nature; he is pure Form, unimpeded by Matter, and always completely and actually all that he can be. Hence the divine is kept up inexhaustibly, and ever generates the supreme pleasure, simple and incorruptible, of self-contemplation, which constitutes the divine happiness. It follows, as a matter of course, that this is above and beyond ; it is   or. Hence in a famous passage we are told that “if the nature of anything were simple, the same action would ever be sweetest to it. And this is the reason why God always enjoys a single and simple pleasure; for there is not only an activity of motion, but also one void of motion, and pleasure is rather in constancy than in motion. And