From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordCato here names the authority attached to the Distichs of Cato, a collection of Latin moral verses.
- In TraherneTraherne associates Cato with Plato and the Apostle as witnesses to the understanding of God as mind.
- In this editionThe supplied note identifies a shortened quotation from Distichs I.1, traditionally ascribed to Dionysius Cato and used in Latin schooling.
- A place to beginThe named Cato and the following verse support worship through likeness to the divine mind.
Meaning
Cato here names the authority attached to the Distichs of Cato, a collection of Latin moral verses. It should not confidently be identified with either famous Roman statesman.
Use in the book
Traherne associates Cato with Plato and the Apostle as witnesses to the understanding of God as mind. He then supplies a Latin verse about worship with a pure mind and an expanded English rendering. Its place in the meditation matters: the human soul becomes like God by bringing its capacity for knowledge into activity and receiving the world’s objects within itself. Worship accordingly requires an inward likeness and union, not merely an external gesture. The schoolroom moral authority is incorporated into this larger account of the soul’s perfection, rather than presented as an independent theological system.
Places to read
- II.84The named Cato and the following verse support worship through likeness to the divine mind.
In this edition
The supplied note identifies a shortened quotation from Distichs I.1, traditionally ascribed to Dionysius Cato and used in Latin schooling.
Source note
Primary text: II.84. Supplied 2026 editorial notes 150–151 identify the Cato attribution, Distichs I.1, school use, and relation of the Latin and English passages.