In proportion as each thing possesses more of perfection, so is it more active, and less passive; and, vice versa, in proportion as it is more active, so is it more perfect.
Proof .-- In proportion as each thing is more perfect, it possesses more of reality (II.Def.

vi.), and, consequently (III.
iii.

and note), it is to that extent more active and less passive.

This demonstration may be reversed, and thus prove that, in proportion as a thing is more active, so is it more perfect.

Q.E.D.
Corollary .-- Hence it follows that the part of the mind which endures, be it great or small, is more perfect than the rest.
For the eternal part of the mind (V.xxiii.