I have read in the records of the Arabs that Abdala the Saracen, when asked what he believed was the most admirable thing on the stage of this world, replied that there was nothing more admirable than man.  Yet when I consider the grounds for such, the many justifications, given by many, for the outstanding qualities of human nature do not satisfy me: that man is intermediary between the creatures, a friend of the higher powers, king of the lower regions; capable of understanding nature with the sharpness of his senses, the penetration of his reason, and the light of his intelligence….At length I seemed to have understood why man is the most fortunate animal and therefore worthy of universal admiration and what his place in the order of the universe is that makes him an object of envy not only by the brutes or the stars, but even by minds beyond this world. It is an unbelievable and wonderful thing. Why should it not be? For on this account man is properly said to be a great miracle and a wondrous being. But now hear, Fathers, what it is and out of your kindness lend me your full attention….

Therefore, God took man, a creation of indeterminate form, and placing him at the midpoint of the world spoke to him in this way: “I have given you no fixed abode, O Adam, so that you might have and possess the abode, form and gifts you yourself desire according to your will and judgment. The defined nature of other beings is confined by laws which I have prescribed. You, compelled by no limitations, according to your free choice in whose hands I have placed you, shall prescribe your own limits. I have set you in the center of the world, that you might more easily observe whatever there is in the world….You can degenerate toward lower beings, which are brutes, or, if you will, you can be reborn among higher beings, which are divine.”

Oh the magnificent generosity of God the Father! Oh the extraordinary and wondrous felicity of man, who was given the power to be that which he wanted! In the case of man, the Father bestowed on him at birth manifold seeds and germs of every kind of life. Whichever ones he cultivates will grow and bear their fruit in him. If he cultivates vegetative seeds, then he becomes a plant; if sensual ones, then a brute; if rational seeds, then he becomes a heavenly being. If intellectual ones, then he will be an angel and son of God. And if, unhappy with being a creature of any sort, he draws into the center of his own unity, his spirit will be made one with God, and in the solitary darkness of the Father, Who is above all things, he will distinguish himself beyond all things. Who does not admire this our chameleon? Could anything else be more an object of wonder?

…Considering that we are born with this condition, that is, that we become whatever we choose to become, we need to understand that we must take earnest care about this, so that it will never be said to our disadvantage that we were born to a priviledged position but failed to realize it and became animals and senseless beasts…. Above all, we should not make that freedom of choice God gave us into something harmful, for it was intended to be to our advantage. Let Holy ambition enter into our souls; let us not be content with mediocrity, but rather strive after the highest and expend all our strength in achieve it….If we choose to, we will not be second to them [the highest of the angelic orders] in anything.