No beast has more sagacity than an elephant; yet where can you find any of a larger size?
I am speaking here of beasts.

But among men, do we not see a disparity of manners in persons very much alike, and a similitude of manners in persons unlike?
If this sort of argument were once to prevail, Velleius, observe what it would lead to.

You have laid it down as certain that reason cannot possibly reside in any but the human form.

Another may affirm that it can exist in none but a terrestrial being; in none but a being that is born, that grows up, and receives instruction, and that consists of a soul, and an infirm and perishable body; in short, in none but a mortal man.

But if you decline those opinions, why should a single form disturb you?
You perceive that man is possessed of reason and understanding, with all the infirmities which I have mentioned interwoven with his being; abstracted from which, you nevertheless know God, you say, if the lineaments do but remain.